With Covid-19 under control and social and economic life in complete normalcy, the Asian country has achieved the agreed stages in the calendar one by one and took note of the development of Tokyo 2020 to deal with the uncertainties associated with the epidemic.
Once the infrastructure was ready, the organizational program became more dynamic with the celebration of the many qualifiers in which national and foreign athletes participated, but also of public testing to run each venue and a service designed for the competition.
Beijing received the torch and is now displaying it in the Tower of the Bird’s Nest Stadium, along with a photo display that tells the story of this part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games dedicated to ice and snow sports.
As it was announced, the fire will have a virtual journey and will travel across the country before touring the emblematic areas of the Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou headquarters between February 2-4 in the hands of 1,200 people.
China also revealed the workers’ uniforms and medals for the event, with a design inspired by a piece of jade called “Pi” consisting of a double disc of that material with a circular hole in the middle.
He also released the final version of the epidemiological strategy, which includes measures such as disqualification, expulsion from competitions and tougher penalties for athletes who do not comply with regulations within the Olympic bubble.
Beijing 2022 occupies a large space in the Chinese press, while in society it is synonymous with the greater promotion of winter sports among individuals of all ages, and it translates economically into the preparations of companies involved in the development of the Games.
The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, maintains his satisfactory assessment of the organization of the event, training and association with healthy lifestyles in the population.
The event generates very high hopes, just over a month away – and under the theme “Together for a Shared Future” – China will showcase what it promised to be the best ice and snow show ever, with more sports and better prepared athletes.
But after months of threats, in December the United States and some Western allies launched a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 in a bid to punish China, which responded without shock but was determined not to ignore such an insult.
The motives of the North American country, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom are supposed genocide, the establishment of re-education camps, and the mistreatment of ethnic groups in the Uyghur Autonomous Region in Xinjiang, something the Asian giant has rejected on multiple occasions.
Although they will not send official delegations, they will allow the participation of national athletes.
China has lodged protests in front of all these governments and warned them not to be prepared to bear the consequences of an act it considers intrusive and based on rumors and lies.
He also lamented the insistence on tampering with the competition and deplored that the boycott violated the principles of sport’s political neutrality and unity enshrined in the Olympic Charter.
Although this action was seen as a provocation with repercussions on bilateral relations with China, its authorities and the press downplayed it, asserting that there was never any intention to invite dignitaries from these powers and that nothing would cloud the success of the battle because it would Focus on the performance of the athletes.
“China is not only confident that it will not make chain reactions, it sees overwhelming support from the world for the Games (…) It does not matter if the officials attend or not, they will see the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics ”, in this regard, the Chancellery.
On the other hand, many voices doubt that the boycott will add to the international sponsors of Beijing 2022, whose list includes companies such as Coca-Cola, Intel, P&G, Toyota, Visa and others.
Japan, an ally of Washington in the region, said it will deeply analyze the meaning of the sporting event in terms of diplomacy and will also take into account other factors before making a decision according to its national interests.
Meanwhile, the IOC expressed its respect for being a political movement of the aforementioned governments, called for the multi-sport event not to be used to inflame global tensions, and reminded that aiding athletes is a matter agreed upon by the entire international community.
jdg / ymr
* Chief Correspondent for Prensa Latina in Beijing.
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