Winter Olympics 2022, Games, important dates, participating countries, facts, Faqs, broadcast, covid-19 issue, Boycott, list of sports, Opening Ceremony, Slogan, Emblem, Medals, Mascot, Host regions, selection of host city,  Schedule, and more

Curious to know about the 2022 Winter Olympics, but not getting the info that you are looking for, don't worry here I will share all the info related to Winter Olympics 2022. Here you can find out all the info about the Bejing Olympics 2022 like Olympics 2022 Games, important dates, participating countries, facts, Faqs, broadcast, covid-19 issue, Boycott, list of sports, Opening Ceremony, Slogan, Emblem, Medals, Mascot, Host regions, selection of host city,  Schedule, and more.

They may not be as popular as their summer counterparts, but the Winter Olympics still hold a very special place in the hearts of sports enthusiasts. These games take place every four years and invite athletes from across the globe to show their credentials. Since their inception way back in 1924, the games have come a long way.

The first-ever event took place in Chamonix, France. Back then the event consisted of only 5 sports Bobsleigh, Curling, Ice Hockey, Nordic Skiing, and Skating. A lot of new sports and disciplines have been added over the years. Some of them are Skeleton, Luge, Snowboarding, Short track speed skating, etc. 

The next event will be held in Beijing, China in 2022. The event is due to take place from 4 February to 20 February. The three places where the games will be played are Beijing, Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou. Beijing National Stadium will host the opening ceremony of the games on 4 February 2022.

The stadium which is also known as the Bird’s nest has a capacity of 91,000. Beijing is set to become the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games when it hosts the event in 2022. 

Quick info about the Winter Olympics 2022

Here is some quick info about the forthcoming Winter Olympics 2022. 

Selection of the host city – 

The bidding process started in 2013 with the IOC setting a 14 November deadline for applications. During the initial phase, six countries showed interest in hosting the games, Stockholm (Sweden), Krakow (Poland), Oslo (Norway), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Lviv (Ukraine), and Beijing (China).

All the interested cities attended a 3-day seminar from 4 December to 6 December to get a clear understanding of what it is like to host an event like the Olympics. Then each city was tasked with answering a questionnaire to better understand their ability to host the event.

Each applicant city’s response was thoroughly reviewed by an IOC-appointed Working Group. Stockholm, Krakow, and Lviv, however, withdrew their applications during the first phase of the voting.

Oslo, Almaty, and Beijing were chosen as candidate cities during the second phase by the IOC selection board on 7 July 2014 and advanced to the second round. Oslo also decided to pull out citing the lack of local support and funding despite being considered the clear favorite to host the games.

During the second phase also known as the “Candidature Phase,” all the applicants were assigned a task to answer another questionnaire. Candidate cities were asked to submit much more extensive plans. Their responses were again closely examined.

After completing the process, an IOC-appointed group visited all the applicant cities. A comprehensive report was prepared and made available to each and every IOC member.

The extensive selection process culminated on 31 July 2015 with the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both cities were given 45 minutes each to present their plans.  Post that a 15 minute Q&A session was conducted.

After the completion of the session, the voting phase took place. Each eligible IOC member was asked to vote. In every round, every member was allowed to vote only once. The votes of absentees were not taken into account. Apart from that, invalid electronic voting entries were also not considered. Beijing defeated Almaty in a closely fought contest, edging it out by just 4 votes.

Final Voting Results – 

Almaty - 40

Beijing - 44

Host regions – 

Host Regions:

These games will be held across three regions in China. 

1. Beijing
2. Yanqing 
3. Zhangjiakou.

Beijing region – 

The Olympic green region will play host to a number of events. Some of these venues were used during the 2008 summer event as well. The Ice Hockey event will be held in the Beijing National Indoor Stadium.

The total capacity of the stadium is around 18000. The National Speed Skating Oval is a newly constructed venue that will host the Speed Skating event. The Wukesong Sports Centre, which hosted Basketball during the 2008 event, will host Ice Hockey this time around.

Opening and Closing ceremonies of the games will be held at the Beijing National Stadium. Curling will be held in the Beijing National Aquatic Centre. 

Yanqing Region – 

The Xiaohaituo Alpine Skiing Field will host Alpine Skiing. It has a capacity of 15000. The venue has 7 courses. The Yanqing National Sliding Centre will play host to Bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton events. The track has 16 curves and is around 2 km long (1.9 km).

However owing to the scarcity of natural snow, the venues will heavily rely on artificial snow for the events. The region has an Olympic Village as well. The Village resembles a traditional Chinese mountain village and can host more than 1400 individuals.

Zhangjiakou Region –

This region will host all the remaining Skiing and snowboarding events. This zone has hosted international skiing events in the past as well. The region has its own Olympic Village too that can house 2640 people. Genting Snow Park will host the Snowboarding and Freestyle Skiing events.

It has a capacity of 5000. Biathlon will be hosted in the Hualindong Ski Resort. 

Cost of hosting the Winter Olympics –

Hosting an event like this is no mean feat. You have to shell out billions of dollars to invite the best athletes in the world. However, China is no stranger to hosting such events. Way back in 2008, China played host to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

It had to cough up around US$40 billion, a record back then which was later broken by Russia In 2012. The budget for the Winter Olympics is nowhere close to the budget for the 2008 games, however, it is still not a small amount. As per some estimates, the games are going to cost China US$3.9 billion. The amount is less than one-tenth of the money splurged on the 2008 event. 

Olympics Torch Relay –

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games torch has been designed by designer Li Jianye. It carries the name “Flying” on it. The design of the torch was chosen from 182 entries from across the globe. The designer has used red and silver colors primarily.

It has the emblem of the games featured on it. The 2022 Winter Olympics’ torch relay started on 18 October 2021. This journey will come to an end on 4 February 2022. The torch was as usual lit in Olympia, Greece. The Chinese leg will start on 4 February 2022 and will last only three days. After arriving in China, the relay will visit the host venues.

Olympics Mascot - 

The official 2022 Winter Olympics Mascot is Bing Dwen Dwen. A worldwide competition was launched on 8 August 2018 for the selection of the mascot. Around 6000 entries from across the world were handed in. Later on, the list was narrowed down to just 10. Bing Dwen Dwen was unveiled on 17 September 2019 along with its Paralympics companion Shuey Rhon Rhon.

Cao Xue, a chief designer at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, designed Bing Dwen Dwen. Bing Dwen Dwen is a giant Panda who wears a suit that resembles that of an astronaut. As per a renowned Chinese media outlet the word Bing, which means ice, stands for strength and purity. While the word Dwen means stocky and cute. The mascot represents the strength and diligence of participating athletes.

Winter Olympics 2022 Medals  -

The design of the medals was unveiled on 26 October 2021 at a ceremony in the presence of double Olympic Speed Skating champion Yang Yang and double Tokyo 2020 Swimming Gold medalist Zhang Yufei. Named “Tong Xin”, the design of these medals is based on the ancient Chinese jade concentric circle pendants.

Their name Tong Xin means Together as one. Each medal consists of a center and five rings. On the front XXIV Olympic Winter Games, Beijing 2022 is engraved. The phrase encircles the five Olympic rings in the center.

The emblem of the games is engraved in the center on the back with the Chinese name of the games encircling it. These medals are quite similar to the medals used during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Emblem – 

Designed by Lin Cunzhen, the emblem “Winter Dream” was unveiled on 15 December 2017. Lin also designed the logo for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games. The emblem is inspired by the Chinese character for winter.

The top part of the emblem represents a skier whereas the bottom one resembles a skater. It has the colors of the Chinese flag, red and yellow. Moreover, it also features all the Olympic colors apart from the black one. 

Slogan – 

The Winter Olympic Games 2022 official slogan is “Together for a Shared Future. The slogan was unveiled during a ceremony at the Beijing’s Capital Museum.” The slogan was selected after a comprehensive exercise. 79 entries were handed in by Chinese Universities.

Out of those 79 proposals, 10 were shortlisted. As per Chen Ning, director-general of Beijing 2022’s Culture and Ceremony Department, the slogan is a commitment towards overcoming global challenges as a community with a shared future for mankind.  

Opening Ceremony – 

The 2022 Winter Olympics Ceremony will take place at the Beijing National Stadium. Several famous personalities from across the world are expected to be present during the event. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang are likely to attend the ceremony.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to pay a visit. IOC President Thomas Bach will also be there. In order to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, spectators from only Mainland China will be allowed. As far as the timing of the event is concerned, the ceremony, in all likelihood will start at 8 pm local time. 

Winter Olympics 2022 Sports –  

The 2022 Olympics will include 109 events across 15 disciplines in seven sports. In July 2018, the International Olympics Committee announced its plans to make the games more inclusive. Hence this event is going to feature a record number of events.

Here is a list of all the sports that this event will feature – 

Biathlon

(11 events)

1. Mixed 4 x 6 km relay
2. Women’s 15 km individual
3. Men’s 20 km individual
4. Women’s 7.5 km Sprint
5. Men’s 10 km Sprint
6. Women’s 10 km pursuit
7. Men’s 12.5 km pursuit
8. Men’s 4 x 7.5 km relay
9. Women’s 4 x 6 relay
10. Men’s 15 km mass start
11. Women’s 12.5 km mass start 

Bobsledding

1. Bobsleigh (4 events)
2. Two men
3. Four men
4. Women’s Monobob
5. Two women
6. Skeleton (2 events)
7. Men’s skeleton
8. Women’s skeleton

Curling

(3 Events)

1. Men
2. Women
3. Mixed Doubles

Ice Hockey

(2 Events)

1. Men
2. Women

Luge

(4 Events)

1. Men’s singles
2. Men’s doubles
3. Women’s singles
4. Team Relay

Skating

1. Figure Skating (5 events)
2. Men’s singles
3. Women’s singles
4. Ice Dance
5. Pair Skating
6. Team event
7. Short Track Speed Skating (9 events)
8. Men’s 500m
9. Men’s 1000m
10. Men’s 1500m
11. Men’s 5000m relay
12. Women’s 500m
13. Women’s 1000m
14. Women’s 1500m
15. Women’s 3000m relay
16. 2000m relay

Speed Skating (14 events)

1. Men’s 500m
2. Men’s 1000m
3. Men’s 1500m
4. Men’s 5000m
5. Men’s 10000m
6. Mass Start Men
7. Men’s Team Pursuit
8. Women’s 500m
9. Figure Skating (5 events)
10. Men’s singles
11. Women’s singles
12. Ice Dance
13. Pair Skating
14. Team event

Short Track Speed Skating (9 events)

1. Men’s 500m
2. Men’s 1000m
3. Men’s 1500m
4. Men’s 5000m relay
5. Women’s 500m
6. Women’s 1000m
7. Women’s 1500m
8. Women’s 3000m relay
9. 2000m relay

Speed Skating (14 events)

1. Men’s 500m
2. Men’s 1000m
3. Men’s 1500m
4. Men’s 5000m
5. Men’s 10000m
6. Mass Start Men
7. Men’s Team Pursuit
8. Women’s 500m
9. Women’s 1000m
10. Women’s 1500m
11. Women’s 3000m
12. Women’s 5000m
13. Mass Start Women
14. Women’s Team Pursuit

Skiing

Alpine Skiing (11 events)

1. Men’s Combined
2. Men’s Downhill
3. Men’s Giant Slalom
4. Men’s Slalom
5. Men’s Super G
6. Team Event
7. Women’s Combined
8. Women’s Downhill
9. Women’s Giant Slalom
10. Women’s Slalom
11. Women’s Super G

Cross-country Skiing (12 events)

1. Men’s Individual Sprint (Freestyle)
2. Men’s Skiathlon
3. Men’s Team Sprint (Classical)
4. Men’s 4 x 10 Relay
5. Men’s 15 km (Classical)
6. Men’s 50 km (Freestyle)
7. Women’s Individual Sprint (Freestyle)
8. Women’s Skiathlon
9. Women’s Team Sprint ( Classical )
10. Women’s 4 x 5 km Relay
11. Women’s 10 km (Classical)
12. Women’s 30 km (Freestyle)

Freestyle Skiing (13 events)

1. Men’s Aerials
2. Men’s Big Air
3. Men’s Halfpipe
4. Men’s Moguls
5. Men’s Ski Cross
6. Men’s Slopestyle
7. Mixed Team Aerials
8. Women’s Aerials
9. Women’s Big Air
10. Women’s Halfpipe
11. Women’s Moguls
12. Women’s Ski Cross
13. Women’s Slopestyle

Nordic Combined (3 events)

1. Men’s Individual Large Hill
2. Men’s Individual Normal Hill
3. Men’s Team

Ski Jumping (5 events)

1. Men’s Individual Normal Hill
2. Men’s Individual Large Hill
3. Men’s Team Event
4. Mixed Team Event
5. Women’s Individual Normal Hill

Snowboarding (11 events)

1. Men’s Big Air
2. Men’s Halfpipe
3. Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom
4. Men’s Slopestyle
5. Men’s Snowboard Cross
6. Women’s Big Air
7. Women’s Halfpipe
8. Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom
9. Women’s Slopestyle
10. Women’s Snowboard Cross
11. Team Snowboard Cross

New entrants – 

7 new events have been added to the next year’s games. These seven new entrants are Women’s Monobob, mixed team events in Aerial Skiing, Ski Jumping, Short track speed skating, and Snowboard cross plus women’s Big Air.

The International Ski Federation (FSI) revealed its plans to allow women’s competition in Nordic Combined in October 2016, hoping to make the discipline a part of the games for the first time in Beijing. The federation proposed the inclusion of three more events later on. Six new events were suggested by the International Luge Federation (FIL) as well.

The International Skating Union (ISU) proposed the inclusion of synchronized skating as a new event. It also expressed its desire to have a new mixed team event in short-track speed skating. The International Biathlon Union (IBU) and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) also put forward one new event each.

Winter Olympics 2022 Schedule – 

As mentioned above, the games are set to start on 4 February 2022. The event will come to an end on 20 February 2022. Here is the full Winter Olympics schedule -

Participating Countries –

80 countries are going to take part in the next year’s event. Out of the 80 countries, Haiti and Peru are the ones that did not participate in the 2018 games. In fact, Haiti is going to make its Winter Olympics debut.

On the other hand, North Korea which took part in the last event won’t be allowed to send its athletes this time around. The IOC executive board suspended the Olympic Committee of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for violating the Olympic Charter. However, the country is still allowed to send its athletes as neutral athletes under the Olympic flag.

Russia was also handed a four-year ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on 9 December 2019. Russia was found guilty of tampering with the evidence that it was supposed to hand into the WADA in order to have the Russian Anti-Doping Agency reinstated.

The WADA allowed Russian players to participate as neutral players in the 2020 Summer Olympics. However, they could take part only as individual players. They were not allowed to compete in team sports.

1. Albania
2. Great Britain
3. Netherlands
4. Andorra
5. Greece
6. New Zealand
7. Argentina
8. Haiti
9. Nigeria
10. Armenia
11. Hong Kong
12. North Macedonia
13. Australia
14. Hungary
15. Norway
16. Austria
17. Iceland
18. Pakistan
19. Azerbaijan
20. Iran
21. Peru
22. Belarus
23. Ireland
24. Philippines
25. Belgium
26. Israel
27. Poland
28. Bolivia
29. Italy
30. Portugal
31. Bosnia and Herzegovina
32. Japan
33. Puerto Rico
34. Brazil
35. Kazakhstan
36. ROC
37. Bulgaria
38. Kenya
39. Romania
40. Canada
41. Kosovo
42. San Marino
43. Chile
44. Latvia
45. Serbia
46. China
47. Lebanon
48. Slovakia
49. Colombia
50. Liechtenstein
51. Slovenia
52. Croatia
53. Lithuania
54. South Korea
55. Cyprus
56. Luxembourg
57. Spain
58. The Czech Republic
59. Madagascar
60. Sweden
61. Denmark
62. Malaysia
63. Switzerland
64. Ecuador
65. Malta
66. Thailand
67. Estonia
68. Mexico
69. Turkey
70. Finland
71. Monaco
72. Ukraine
73. France
74. Mongolia
75. US
76. Georgia
77. Montenegro
78. Uzbekistan
79. Germany
80. Morocco

Countries like Bermuda, Chinese Taipei, East Timor, Eritrea, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Singapore, South Africa, Togo, and Tonga also participated in the previous event. But none of their athletes has qualified for the 2022 Winter Olympics as of yet.

Broadcast of the event – 

Just like the summer event, the 2022 event will be telecast across the globe. Several renowned broadcasters have shown interest and bought the broadcast rights to the games in their respective countries and regions.

Eurosport will televise the games in the UK. BBC will also be allowed to televise a certain amount of coverage due to a deal between the two broadcasters. China Central Television will show the game in China whereas NBC will broadcast the games in the United States. 

Closing Ceremony – 

Beijing National Stadium will host the Winter Olympics 2022 closing ceremony. The event will be organized on 20 February 2022 to mark the end of the games. Chen Jining, the mayor of Beijing, then will give the Olympic flag to the IOC chief Thomas Bach.

In keeping with the tradition, President Bach will wave the flag 8 times. After that, the flag will be handed over to the host of the next Winter Olympic Games, scheduled to take place in 2026. 

Covid-19 Issues –

 As with the 2020 Summer Olympics, covid-19 has hit the Winter Olympics’ preparations. Several qualification tournaments had to be canceled or postponed due to the rampaging disease. IIHF could not organize the 2020 Women’s World Championship owing to the spread of the pandemic. The sports body had to base the qualification for the 2022 games on the IIHF rankings. 

As per the IOC protocol, all the athletes will have to undergo 21-day quarantine on arriving if they are not fully vaccinated. Players will have to stay within the Bio-Secure bubble during the competition. Each and every athlete must adhere to the IOC’s protocols. No foreign spectators will be allowed to attend the games. The IOC will allow only the Mainland Chinese to attend the event. 

Controversies surrounding the event – 

Just like any other event, the Winter Olympic Games 2022 have also had its fair share of controversies. Many renowned figures and bodies have objected to the idea of China hosting the event. Ever since China obtained the rights to host the games, calls have been made to boycott the competition.

Critics have accused China of committing atrocities against the Uyghur Muslims. The World Uyghur Congress even sent a letter to the IOC urging the body to rethink its decision of hosting the games In China. Rick Scott a US senator also urged IOC to reconsider its decision.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, in October 2020, hinted that the UK may give the event a miss. China’s strained relations with Australia have also done China no good. 13 Canadian MPs joined forces to try and stop China from hosting the games.

Dutch MP Sjoerd Sjoerdsma also expressed his disappointment over the hosting of the event in China. The group of the world’s richest countries G20 has called for a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics. In May 2021, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the house, called for a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics as well.

Endorsing her views, former US President Donald Trump also said that a complete boycott would not be fair. 

Global Times the Chinese state-run outlet threatened that any country entertaining the thoughts of boycotting the games might face severe sanctions by China. Echoing its views, Guo Weimin, the Chinese spokesperson said those trying to boycott the games would not be successful.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Josep Borrell, EU’s foreign policy chief to attend the event to “enhance exchanges on winter sport” and to “foster new highlights.” Amid all this controversy, IOC has tried to remain neutral.

The sports body has stated that it wishes to stay away from political issues. However, it has also been said that allowing a country to host the games does not mean that the sports body agrees to each and every action, and policy of the government of that particular nation.

But indicating a change in its long-standing policy, IOC on 8 September 2021, suspended North Korea for not taking part in the 2020 summer Olympics.

Some critics have also questioned China’s decision to host the games near Beijing Songshan National Reserve. Hosting the games close to the reserve may have a detrimental impact on the reserve.

Furthermore, the games are being hosted in regions that do not receive enough natural snowfall. As per critics, if snow involving events are to go ahead, the organizers will have to bring snow from far away areas. In response to these allegations, the Chinese government has increased the size of the reserve by 31%. 

FAQs about the Winter Olympics 2022

Now I would like to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the Winter Olympics 2022.

I have tried to cover as much as possible here, but if you don’t find your question below, don’t forget to ask that through the below subscription form.

1. Which city will be hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics?

Answer: Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Beijing defeated Almaty in a close contest by a small margin of 4 votes. Apart from Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou regions will also host some events.

2. Will the Winter Olympics be in 2022?

Answer: Yes, the Winter Olympics will be hosted by Beijing in 2022.

3. What are the dates for the Winter Olympics 2022?

Answer: The Winter Olympics 2022 will start on 4 February 2022 and end on 20 February 2022.

4. Where are the next Winter Olympics?

Answer: The next Winter Olympics will be held in China. 

5. How many winter sports will be played in the 2022 Olympics?

Answer: The 2022 Winter Olympics will have 7 sports. These sports include 109 events in 15 disciplines.

6. Where are the next Winter Olympics?

Answer: The next Winter Olympics will be hosted by Beijing, China in 2022.

7. What are the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics host cities?

Answer: Beijing will host the 2022 event while the 2026 games will be hosted by Milan and Cortina d’ampezzo. 

8. Does Beijing get snow?

Answer: Beijing generally doesn’t receive much natural snow hence, artificial snow will be used for the majority of the 2022 competition.

9. How often are Winter Olympics?

Answer: The Winter Olympic Games are held every four years.