Winter Olympics: Beijing ready to deliver safe and outstanding Games, says IOC president Thomas Bach

The International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach on Thursday said that the Beijing Olympics will be safe and outstanding while also ushering in a new era for global winter sports.

The Chinese capital will become the first city to host both summer and winter editions of the Olympics, but preparations have been hit by diplomatic boycotts and the coronavirus pandemic. “Thanks to the excellent work of the organizing committee, everything is in place for a safe and outstanding winter Games,” Bach told the IOC session.

IOC President Thomas Bach has repeatedly defended his organisation’s choice for the 2022 Olympics, saying the IOC was not a political body nor was its mandate to influence laws in sovereign states.

He said on Thursday that in the two years leading up to the Beijing Games he had seen “the dark clouds of the growing politicisation of sport on the horizon.”

“We also saw that in some peoples’ minds the boycott ghosts of the past were rearing their ugly heads again,” Bach said.

The 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics were all hit by boycotts by countries during the Cold War era, severely denting the event’s universality and finances.

“This is why we have been working even harder to get this unifying mission of the Olympic Games across to as many leaders and decision-makers as possible,” Bach said.

He also noted what he said were major commercial opportunities created by these Games, which he expected would transform the global winter sports industry.

“Today we can say China is a winter sports country. This is why Beijing 2022 will be the start of a new era for global winter sport,” Bach said.

He estimated China’s winter sports industry to be worth some $150 billion by 2025.