Beijing forging ahead with 2022 preparations

After rapid progress with venues last year, organizers determined not to let virus outbreak slow down planning

When it comes to organizing Olympic Games, setting new standards is no easy task.

But Beijing looks set to raise the bar for a second time, just as it did in 2008 when the 29th Summer Olympics were staged in the capital.

Despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak forcing the first Beijing 2022 official test event (the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup meet in Yanqing) to be canceled, preparations for the Winter Games remain well on track.

The high-speed railway line connecting Beijing with co-host city Zhangjiakou began operation on Dec 30 last year.

A permanent Big Air ramp at Shougang Industrial Park staged its first competition－a World Cup meet－to much acclaim from elite athletes in December.

The course and support facilities of the National Alpine Skiing Center in Yanqing are ready.

The mascots have been unveiled, and the global recruitment process for Games volunteers has begun.

This year the construction of all the competition and non-competition venues will be completed.

Beijing 2022 organizers say they are committed to delivering a "fantastic, extraordinary and excellent "Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, as the focus of preparations shifts from venue construction to management and operation.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has expressed his confidence in Beijing on numerous occasions since July 31, 2015, when he announced in Kuala Lumpur that the city would host the 2022 Games.

"In two years, China will write history again. Beijing will be the first city in Olympic history to organize both the winter and summer Games," Bach said last month at a ceremony introducing the Beijing 2022 mascots to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"Beijing 2022's preparation work is going very well so we can already look forward to an excellent Winter Olympic Games from now on."

Even since the outbreak of novel coronavirus, Bach has continued to express his full support for China.

"We are fully confident that preparations for the Games will not be affected (by the virus), and that your country can look forward to once again inviting the athletes of the world to compete in Beijing," Bach wrote in a recent letter to the Chinese Olympic Committee.

This year work will step up on slogans, medals and the torch design, while the torch-relay route and theme songs for the Games will also be released. A creative team will be formed to plan the opening and closing ceremonies.

In line with the 2020 Olympic Agenda, a key focus of Beijing 2022 is sustainability in areas such as waste management, energy efficiency and carbon management.

Natural carbon dioxide refrigeration systems will be used for the first time at a Winter Olympics, reducing Beijing 2022's carbon footprint. The system will be used at the speed skating and figure skating competition venues, as well as the ice hockey training venues.