Beijing One Year Later: IOC praises legacy of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

On February 4, 2022 the Winter Olympics officially began in Beijing.

Nearly one year later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was full of praise for the Beijing 2022 Games.

“The first city ever to hold both the Summer and Winter Games, Beijing delivered spectacular Olympic Winter Games last year,” said the IOC in an article published to their website last week.

The IOC was also happy to highlight the sustainability of Olympic venues and the positive impact on the future of winter sports in China, a key component of the IOC Olympic Agenda 2020+5.

“The organizers made sure the Games minimized their impact on the environment by prioritizing the use of existing venues,” said Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s Olympic Games Executive Director.

“Using renewable energy to power all the venues, and implementing innovative technology, such as the CO2 refrigeration systems to make winter sports more sustainable,” he said.

The Beijing National Aquatics Centre, more commonly known as the Water Cube hosted all the aquatic competitions during the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Two years after those Games, it was completely renovated with the addition of a 130,000 sq ft public water park. For the Winter Games last year, the Water Cube became the Ice Cube and was the hosting venue for curling.

“The venue has seen massive public interest, with more than 3,000 visitors on day one of it’s opening, earning it the nickname of ‘the hottest ice’ in Beijing,” the IOC said.

The Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee (BOCOG) also released their Post-Game Sustainability Report last week, in which they spoke of sustainability, addressing climate change, development of the region and a protection of the ecosystem.

The BOCOG also published a Post-Games Legacy Report, covering their achievements in winter sports popularization. China won nine gold medals in Beijing 2022, placing them third on the medal table behind Norway and Germany, but ahead of the United States, Sweden, Canada and several other traditional Winter Games countries. In total China won 15 medals in Beijing 2022, easily their best showing ever in the Winter Olympics. Don’t be surprised if that record is short-lived said the IOC as China appears to be all-in on winter sports.

“By the beginning of 2021, the country had already built 654 standard ice rinks, up by 317 percent compared with 2015; and 803 indoor and outdoor ski resorts, up by 41 percent from 2015 levels.”

The Chinese Tourism Academy claims the country’s winter leisure tourism sector is expected to welcome more than 520 million visitors in the next two years, and will generate revenue of over $100 billion.