So the 2022 Olympic Games are happening, right? Well, COVID-19 is trending in the right direction globally and Beijing will also have to fend off the threat of a boycott (more of that later), but we should have a pretty good sense of where things stand by the summer.
I don’t actually think the Tokyo Olympics have much bearing on Beijing, although if Tokyo progresses as (currently) planned, it would be staggering to see Beijing subsequently called off. I’ve heard talk that if Tokyo is scrapped, then Beijing will be too, but personally I think a Tokyo cancellation would only make China even more determined to host their Games. So while Tokyo in August is a marker, I would look instead to what happens just a few days later with the Summer World University Games in Chengdu, scheduled to start on August 18. The last version in Naples, Italy, was a slightly scaled down affair, but Chengdu is due to be back at the level of 2017 (Taipei) and Gwangju (2015), which each hosted more than 11,000 athletes. So that should provide a solid indication of how China plans to cope with hosting thousands of athletes, international travel restrictions, quarantine, testing, vaccination requirements and all the other lovely things we now have to deal with.
Many of the Olympic test events for Beijing, originally scheduled for the past few months, will now be held later in the year, which will also provide further clues. A “tailored testing program” is currently underway with domestic athletes and technical officials putting the snow and sliding venues (see picture at the top) through their paces, while the ice venues will be tested in early April. Then, between October and December, 10 full test events, which were initially slated for this winter but were postponed last November, will be held in the final run-up to the Games, with the full roster of international athletes, officials, broadcasters and others invited to take part.
At least that’s the plan – this will all be confirmed three months beforehand – but, as I said, that’s why summer will hold most of the answers to the questions people are asking today. See also: Beijing 2022 begins series of adapted test events ahead of Winter Olympics and Paralympics [Insidethegames], Video of the new sliding center [CGTN], A test run for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics troubleshoots problems, gathers experience [Global Times]
Weekly Roundup
- Another soft power victory for Beijing?
- Boycott latest
- Venues powered by 100% green energy
- Other features and stories in the build-up to 2022
Another Soft Power Victory for Beijing?
This week’s Big Read on the Beijing Olympics comes from CNN’s James Griffiths in “The 2008 Olympics was a soft power victory for Beijing. A successful Games in 2022 could validate its authoritarian system.” This sentence stood out:
A key lesson of 2008 for China, beyond the value of the Olympics for soft power, is that a successful Games can wipe out any memory of acrimony and hostility in the run-up to them.
Sure, the torch really was a disaster and talk of pollution dominated the build-up – there were even calls for a boycott back then, too – but then the Games began. Usain Bolt ran the 100m in 9.69 seconds, Michael Phelps won eight golds and all the “other” stuff became footnotes.
The article has some good parts, although in the latest of a succession of pieces written by people outside the mainland quoting other people outside the mainland – a sad reflection of the state of things today – I think we can do better than quoting Lee Jung-woo from the University of Edinburgh, who
…said the 2008 Games “enabled China to demonstrate its emerging economy status. The 2022 Winter Olympics could help them to revamp their image from a world factory to a world power.”
Does anyone really still see China today as a world factory and not a world power? See also: Memories of the 2008 Beijing Olympics – and what happened next [China Sports Insider]
Boycott Watch
As previously stated, I’m not passing judgement one way or the other on whether countries should boycott the 2022 Olympics, but it’s still dominating the coverage, so it’s worth staying across. While one analyst from Australia claims the chance of a boycott is increasing by the day, I still don’t see enough evidence to change my earlier opinion that a boycott won’t happen.
This week it was Canada’s turn to take the spotlight. The country’s House of Commons voted on a non-binding motion that called on the IOC to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing. It passed by 266-0, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Cabinet abstained from the vote, significantly reducing the chances of a boycott being declared, something that the Canadian Olympic Committee has already said it doesn’t support. Predictably, China is not happy.
Still, while there has been plenty of coverage in the Canadian media, I’m with legendary American Olympic historian David Wallechinsky, who calls an Olympic boycott a “non-starter” because the IOC and various sponsors are “committed to having these Olympics”. See also: Should Canada boycott the 2022 Olympics in Beijing? [CBC] What going to the Beijing Olympics ‘says about us as a people’ [National Post], China hits back at Canada over calls to move Winter Olympics [SCMP], Beijing Olympics boycott a non-starter: historian [CTV News]
In the US, Representative John Katko, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has called on President Biden to lead a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, while another Congressman Michael Waltz introduced a resolution this week calling for a boycott. But Mitt Romney – a driving force behind the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City – says that he’s not supportive of a boycott so that the athletes don’t suffer, but would be happy if President Biden himself decides to give the Games a miss. See also: China Is Preparing for Another Olympics in Beijing, Like It or Not [New York Times], China’s Olympian atrocity [Lehigh Valley Express-Times]
Venues Powered by 100% Green Energy
This seems to be an old story, but it’s resurfaced on several energy-related sites this week and it’s pretty cool, so worth a mention. With sustainability and environmental issues high up the list of Olympic priorities (and concerns), it’s encouraging to see that all of the 26 venues at the Games will be powered with 100% renewable energy.
New energy providers China Huadian Corporation and Beijing Jingneng Power Co, as well as the State Grid, have signed agreements with the venues to keep them powered. The “Smart Grid Planning for Low-Carbon Olympics” plan aims to ensure the installation of new, and the use of existing, smart grid technologies and renewable energy generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure in the three competition zones of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
The State Grid has also built Beijing’s largest centralized electric vehicle (EV) charging station underneath the Wukesong Sports Center, which hosted basketball in 2008 and will host ice hockey in 2022. The 80 sets of 60kW DC charging pile and 120 sets of 7kW AC can charge a maximum of 1,300 EVs every day. See also: Strict green management vital during 2022 Games [China Daily], Green Power for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics [State Grid]
Other Stories and Links
- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan encourages athletes to gear up for Beijing Winter Olympics [Xinhua]
- Shougang: From industrial base to attraction in Beijing [China Daily]
- Michael Phelps will offer his perspective on each of his Olympic races from 2000-16 in a three-part docuseries [SwimSwam]
- Bobsledder Kaillie Humphries applies for expedited process to gain U.S. citizenship ahead of Beijing Games [ESPN]
- Polish Alpine skier optimistic about Beijing 2022 medal hopes [Xinhua]
- YOG MEDALLIST VASIĻJEVS AIMS TO “BE HIMSELF” IN BEIJING AFTER PYEONGCHANG “STRUGGLES” [Olympic.org]
See also:
- 50 Weeks To Go: Corporate Conundrums & Olympic Agendas
- 51 Weeks To Go: Boycotts & Hockey Fights
- Safe and Simple: Beijing 2022’s Message with 1 Year To Go
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