RTX18B8O.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted on Wednesday, Jan. 14 the importance of hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and the possible involvement of more than 300 million Chinese in winter sports, China Daily reported.
Xi told Sheik Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees, that the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will inspire more than 300 million Chinese to take up winter sports. The participation from the Chinese people will greatly contribute to the Olympic movement, he added.
Sheik, who was recently re-elected as president of Kuwait, expressed his support for China. He said that China has already shown its capability to hold large-scale sports events. This comes from the fact that China hosted the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
On Monday, Jan. 01, website China.org.cn reported that Beijing submitted its bid to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and it promises "athlete-centered, sustainable and economical" games.
Liu Peng, president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, handed Beijing's Guarantees to the International Olympic Committee through Christopher Dubi, executive director for the Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The bidding report highlighted athletes' convenience as its primary criteria. According to Wang Anshun, Beijing 2022 Committee president and mayor of Beijing, the service will be comprehensive and of high-level from training, competition, accommodation, transportation, catering, medical care to cultural communication.
He added that through these comprehensive services, athletes will be at their best shape, website China.org.cn said.
Once Beijing wins the hosting right, venues will be set up in Zhangjiakou for snow events. Zhangjiakou is a Hebei Province city which is about 200 kilometers northwest of Beijing.
For ice sports, venues will be set up in Beijing. Stadiums from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including the National Swimming Center and the Water Cube, will be altered as additional venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
