2022 Winter Olympics

The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, were an international winter multi-sport event. They were held from February 4 to 20, 2022, in Beijing, China, and nearby areas. It was the 24th time the Winter Olympic Games were held. Beijing had also hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, making it the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

The Games had 109 medal events across 15 sports. Seven new events were added, including big air freestyle skiing and women's monobob. About 2,880 athletes from 91 teams took part. Haiti and Saudi Arabia joined the Winter Olympics for the first time.

Norway won the most medals for the third Winter Olympics in a row, earning 37 medals, including 16 gold medals. Germany came in second place, and the United States was third. The host country, China, had its best Winter Olympics ever, finishing fourth with nine gold medals. The Games happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, so there were strict health rules to keep everyone safe.

Bidding process

Main article: Bids for the 2022 Winter Olympics

The International Olympic Committee shared its plans for the 2022 Winter Olympics in October 2012. Cities had to apply by November 14, 2013. In July 2014, the committee looked at the bids and chose three cities to continue: Oslo in Norway, Almaty in Kazakhstan, and Beijing in China.

Some cities stopped trying to host because the costs were too high or there wasn’t enough support. Oslo, which was ahead, stopped after learning about some unusual requests from the IOC that were not popular in Norway. Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics after beating Almaty by four votes in July 2015.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

See also: 2020 Summer Olympics § Biosecurity protocols, COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, and Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports

The 2022 Winter Olympics had special rules to help keep everyone healthy. Everyone had to use health apps and get checked each day. Only people from China could watch the games, and many events had no audience. Some hockey players chose not to join because they were worried about getting sick.

Because of these rules, some very good athletes could not come to the games, even if they felt fine, because they had tested positive for the virus.

Development and preparations

The 2022 Winter Olympics used 26 venues that used renewable energy. The venues were in three zones: Beijing, Zhangjiakou, and Yanqing. In Beijing, some places were built new, and others were updated from the 2008 Summer Olympics. Important places were the Bird's Nest for ceremonies and the Water Cube for curling. New places like the Shougang Big Air hosted snowboarding and freestyle skiing.

The Zhangjiakou Zone had skiing events, with building work finishing in early 2021. The Games wanted to be carbon neutral. They used renewable energy and planted forests to balance out emissions. Even though some people were unhappy, the Olympics used new technology like natural CO2 refrigerants to lower carbon emissions.

Ceremonies

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics took place on February 4, 2022, at the Beijing National Stadium. Athletes and leaders from many countries met to start the games.

The closing ceremony happened on February 20, 2022, also at the Beijing National Stadium. It had a cultural show and gave the Olympic flag to Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo for the next Winter Olympics in 2026.

Sports

The 2022 Winter Olympics had many different sports. Athletes competed in 109 events. Some new events were men’s and women’s big air freestyle, women’s monobob, and mixed-team competitions.

Here are the sports and how many events they had:

• Alpine skiing (11 events)
• Biathlon (11 events)
• Bobsleigh (4 events)
• Cross-country skiing (12 events)
• Curling (3 events)
• Figure skating (5 events)
• Freestyle skiing (13 events)
• Ice hockey (2 events)
• Luge (4 events)
• Nordic combined (3 events)
• Short-track speed skating (9 events)
• Skeleton (2 events)
• Ski jumping (5 events)
• Snowboarding (11 events)
• Speed skating (14 events)

Participating National Olympic Committees

In 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency said Russian athletes could not use their country’s name, flag, or anthem for two years. So, Russian athletes competed as “Neutral Athletes.” Later, they were allowed to compete under the acronym “ROC,” for the Russian Olympic Committee.

Sadly, North Korea did not join because of worries about the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 91 National Olympic Committees took part. Two new countries joined: Haiti and Saudi Arabia. In total, 2,871 athletes competed in the Games.

Calendar

Competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics began two days before the opening ceremony on February 2, 2022, and ended on February 20, 2022. The schedule changed a lot and needed approval from the IOC. All times and dates are listed in China Standard Time, which is UTC+8.

See also: Chronological summary of the 2022 Winter Olympics

Medal table

For a more comprehensive list, see 2022 Winter Olympics medal table.

One athlete was found to have broken rules about a special kind of medicine, which changed the results for some teams.

Marketing

The emblem for the 2022 Winter Olympics was called "Winter Dream." It was shown to the world in December 2017. The design looks like the Chinese character for winter. It uses colors that represent the flag of China. The colors also stand for passion and youth. The shape of the emblem looks like an ice skater and a skier.

The official mascot was Bing Dwen Dwen. The name "Bing" means ice. It shows purity and strength. "Dwen Dwen" suggests robustness and liveliness. The Games’ slogan was “Together for a Shared Future.” This slogan was meant to show unity in facing global challenges.

Main article: Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon

Viewership

The 2022 Winter Olympics had many viewers around the world. About 2 billion people watched the games on TV or online. People spent lots of time watching the Olympics on different channels.

Broadcasting

Main article: List of 2022 Winter Olympics broadcasters

In China, the China Media Group showed the 2022 Winter Olympics. They also shared these rights with China Mobile's Migu streaming service. In the United States and Europe, fewer people watched on TV. But many more people watched on social media and streaming services. For example, Eurosport and Discovery+ had many more viewers online than before.

Concerns and controversies

Main article: Concerns and controversies at the 2022 Winter Olympics

When Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, some people worried there might not be enough natural snow for the snow sports. They were concerned about how much water and energy would be needed to make artificial snow.

Some countries decided not to send government officials to the games. The United States led this group, and several other countries joined. This was mainly to show concerns about how people were treated in China, not to stop the games.

There were also some disagreements during the sports events. Some athletes were not happy with the food and places where athletes with COVID-19 had to stay. The weather during the games was sometimes very cold and snowy, which made competing difficult.