After Almaty, Beijing. The IOC Evaluation Commission concluded its visit to the Chinese capital, a candidate for the 28 Winter Games, on Saturday March 2022. Four months before the vote, scheduled for the end of July in Kuala Lumpur, the delegation of 19 experts and members of the IOC, led by the Russian Alexander Zhukov, discovered an Olympic project that was both urban and mountainous, where the sites of the Summer Games in 2008 would be widely used for the ice events. Alain Lunzenfichter, the former president of the Association of Olympic Journalists, followed the visit of the evaluation commission. He answered questions from FrancsJeux.
FrancsJeux: What are the strengths of the Beijing 2022 file?
Alain Lunzenfichter: The great strength of Beijing's candidacy is undoubtedly its ability to understand everything that Agenda 2020 could bring to the Chinese project. With its “army” of advisors, the bid committee easily put the evaluation commission in its pocket, especially since Alexander Zhukov, its president, was only asking for that. What the protagonists of Sochi and their 51 billion dollars in spending failed to do, the Chinese did. Among other things, building an additional (and unnecessary) high-speed train and highway, with the added bonus of numerous engineering structures planned for the development of China... But the Chinese are still waiting for the green light for the start of the work, without doubt for the end of July. Thus, several tens of billions disappear from the Games budget, which is reduced to 1,6 billion dollars. Another advantage of the file is that it reuses 11 of the 12 facilities from the 2008 Summer Games for the events taking place on ice. The political support is obvious, several dozen ministers were in Beijing to meet the commission and confirm the financial contribution of the Chinese state. The bid has already assured the IOC that the entire industry would be behind the project. China has already announced the presence of certain sponsors and estimated even before the Kuala Lumpur election on July 31, a financial windfall of more than $850 million.
And his weaknesses?
They are also very numerous. Human rights, pollution, the snow event sites, the snow itself and above all the atmosphere. The question of Tibet has not evolved since 2008, but as the Chinese repeat, “we must not mix sport and politics”. On the last day of the commission's visit, Saturday, the pollution level reached 500, or twenty times the upper limit recommended by the WHO. The mountain sites, or rather “montagnettes”, barely made it possible to enter the FIS criteria. Additionally, they only received a few centimeters of snow this year. It’s a safe bet that the 2022 Winter Olympics, if Beijing wins, will be the first to take place on artificial snow. Alexander Zhukov confirmed this, saying “there was enough water and the temperature was low enough to make it.” Too bad if environmental protection takes second place... Creating the festive atmosphere of the Games, especially in the mountains, constitutes another challenge that the Chinese will have to overcome if they want these Games to be a success. As for the control of the writings of foreign correspondents, it was, as in 2008, observed several times during this evaluation week.
Does the population support the Olympic project?
Of course, the opposite would be surprising. The city of Beijing supports the project at 88%, the city of Zhangjiakou, the setting for the snow events, at 95%, the rest of China at 92%. On average, the country is in favor at 91,66%. However, these incredible figures must be put into perspective because when you ask the question: “Are you interested in winter sports”, the answer is scathing and negative, probably due to lack of knowledge of the subject. On the other hand, when you ask the same people if they are interested in the Winter Olympics, the answer is affirmative because according to them it concerns the State.
How did the evaluation commission’s visit take place?
In an excellent way. The Chinese are masters at setting up projects and ways to satisfy their guests. They want the 2022 Olympics to develop winter sport in China and promise 300 million new ice hockey players! Obviously false, but it strikes the imagination. They also say they need training sites for winter sports and especially snow sports in order to progress and bring even more Winter Olympic medals to China (53 medals, especially on ice, since their first participation in the Olympics winter in Lake Placid 1980). The Chinese are charming and know how to caress their guests. This was again the case in recent days in Beijing.
