2022 Winter Olympics: History and Background

The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games (Chinese: 第二十四届冬季奥林匹克运动会; pinyin: Dì Èrshísì Jiè Dōngjì Àolínpǐkè Yùndònghuì) and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (北京2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 4 to 20, 2022, in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas with competition in selected events beginning February 2, 2022. It was the 24th edition of the Winter Olympic Games. These were the final winter games to take place under the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach.

Beijing was selected as the host city on July 31, 2015, during the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, marking its second time hosting the Olympics and the last of three consecutive Games held in East Asia, following the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, held six months earlier after being postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Having previously hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing became the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The venues for the Games were concentrated around Beijing, its suburb Yanqing District, and Zhangjiakou, with some events (including the ceremonies and curling) repurposing venues originally built for Beijing 2008 (such as Beijing National Stadium and the Beijing National Aquatics Centre).

The Games featured a record 109 medal events across 15 disciplines. Seven new medal events were introduced, including big air freestyle skiing and women's monobob as well as several new mixed-team competitions in freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, snowboard cross, and short track speed skating. A total of 2,880 athletes representing 91 teams competed in the Games, with Haiti and Saudi Arabia making their Winter Olympic debut.

Similar to the 2008 Games, Beijing's hosting of the 2022 Games was subject to various concerns and controversies including those related to human rights violations in China, such as the persecution of Uyghurs in China, which led to calls for a boycott of the Games. Out of 91 NOCS, 10 countries had diplomatically boycotted and sent athletes but no government officials, while most other countries did not join the boycott. The Games took place over two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, following the preceding 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games and most events were closed to the public, with only selected events open to invited guests at a reduced capacity. To minimize the risk of virus transmission, China implemented strict health and safety measures, including a closed-loop system, frequent testing, and quarantine protocols for participants. Consequently, no major outbreaks were reported during the Games.

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