OCTOGENARIAN Hu Dewen, who has tracked the engrossing ebb and flow of every Games since the first global spectacle was broadcast live into homes across China in 1984, had a simple verdict on China's performance at the just-concluded Tokyo Paralympics and the earlier Olympics: "Nearly flawless. Couldn't ask for more."
"I just can't get enough of this sort of stuff," said the soft-spoken sports enthusiast, who tirelessly buries himself in full replays of past Olympics.
Team Dragon again reigned supreme in the Paralympics by equalling its best achievement in an overseas Games by winning 38 gold medals, just one behind the top-ranked USA, displaying an unmatched dominance of 96 golds and extending their breath-taking success of having topped the medals table at every Paralympics since 2004.
While the flame that lit up Tokyo was doused on Sunday night to bring an end to Japan's Olympic summer, avid watchers like Hu won't have to wait long for the next sporting extravaganza as all eyes now turn to host city, Beijing, and the 2022 Winter Olympics in less than five months’ time.
While uncertainty remains the new normal during the coronavirus era, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Thomas Bach, is oozing confidence that China could pull off a brilliant feast for global sports fans.
"All the elements are now in place for China to host the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which will change the landscape of winter sports forever. The whole Olympic family is looking forward to this global festival," declared Bach in a congratulatory letter sent to the 2021 World Winter Sports Expo (WWSE), which went live on Friday at Beijing's Shougang Park.
As a central platform for the international winter sports industry, WWSE details the final preparations for the Beijing Winter Games with multiple exhibition booths, professional presentations and panel discussions.
As a key part of the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), WWSE also spotlighted China's deepening ties with Finland, Norway, Austria and Switzerland, who have all hosted and trained Chinese elite coaches and athletes over the past few years.
According to Zhang Qian, head of the international relations department of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games Organising Committee (BOCOG), more than 300 winter sports campaigns have been held in China in recent months, engaging close to 100 million people and successfully signing up over 1.1 million people as volunteers.
As a testament to China's pledge for a Green Olympics, all venues will be fully powered by renewable energy generated by wind and solar power. The Beijing Games is only the second Winter Olympics to achieve ISO 20121, the international standard for sustainable event management.
China has repeatedly asserted that its top priority is the health and safety of all those involved in the Winter Olympics. The country has set up a coronavirus prevention and control task force, which is jointly headed by the BOCOG, the IOC and the World Health Organisation.
"We will learn from Tokyo's experience and take into account Beijing's current anti-virus policies," observed Liu Yumin, BOCOG planning and construction head. "Preventive measures will be implemented specific to each venue's needs. Some temporary facilities, such as separate walkways, wall claddings, makeshift restrooms and isolation centres, are being added to all venues to minimise exposure and cross-infection."
As new coronavirus variants have surged around the world, the Beijing Games could look incredibly different to past Winter Olympics. "We need very successful Games next year in Beijing. We really need that success for the sake of everybody, for the sake of keeping that light of hope really bright and open," opined Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who heads the IOC Coordination Commission for Beijing 2022.
As the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics, it remains to be seen what the future holds for Beijing. But one thing is certain: When the Olympic flame is once again lit in China's iconic National Stadium on February 4, 2022, Hu Dewen will be rooting for the home team and another glorious victory. – Agencies, September 7, 2021
