The series is spectacular. It recalls the darkest hours of the year 2020. In the space of a few hours, at the end of last week, China crossed from its calendar a generous handful of major sporting events planned on its soil over the months future.
She did so bluntly, announcing without really saying it that, with the Beijing 2022 Winter Games now belonging to the past, she could disappear from the international sporting landscape until further notice.
The most anticipated announcement surprised no one. It concerns the major meeting planned for this year in China, after the Winter Games: the Asian Games. Public television, CCTV, reported on his Weibo account that they could not be held next September in Hangzhou, less than 200 km southwest of Shanghai.
« The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced that the 19th Asian Games, which were initially scheduled to be held from September 10 to 25, 2022, are postponed, has indicated CCTV on the Chinese social network. New dates will be announced at a later date"
The OCA confirmed the information in a press release, justifying the decision by “ the health situation " in China. Initially, the Chinese organizers assured that the Asian Games could take place normally despite the surge in COVID-19 cases. They explained that they planned to set up an airtight bubble similar to that of the Beijing Winter Games.
But the Chinese authorities no longer seem as ready to agree for the Asian meeting, and for other smaller competitions, the efforts and means deployed for the last Winter Olympic Games.
As proof, the other announcement from the OCA: the pure and simple cancellation of the Asian Youth Games. Postponed for the first time, they were to take place next December in the Chinese city of Shantou.
Another postponement, just as anticipated: the Summer World University Games. They were scheduled for June 26 to July 7 in Chengdu. The body in charge of university sport, FISU, announced that they were postponed until 2023.
« The decision to reschedule Chengdu 2021 was not made easily, but it is the right decision for college athletes, explained FISU in a press release. The continued uncertainty over conditions made postponement the wisest choice. »
The rest is in keeping. Braced on its zero COVID strategy, China is closing itself off to the international sports movement. She no longer tolerates the slightest exception. It is up to international federations to adapt to their health rules, through postponements or by finding a plan B.
Example: World Athletics. The world athletics body has announced a new calendar for the Diamond League, its first circuit of one-day meetings. Sponsored since the 2020 edition by the Chinese conglomerate Wanda, for a period of ten years, it included in its initial program two stages in China: Shanghai on July 30, then Shenzhen on August 6. They are both canceled.
The first disappears from the calendar for the year 2022. The second is kept, but with a radical change of location. Failing to discover Shenzhen, the athletes will leave their bags in Chorzow, Poland. The Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, a meeting originally included in the Gold Continental Tour calendar, moves up one rank and into the Diamond League. It will take place on August 6.
World Triathlon did not have the same resources. The world triathlon body announced over the weekend the pure and simple cancellation of the two Chinese stages of the world circuit: the Championship Series in Chengdu and the World Triathlon Cup in Weihai. They were to take place in September and October 2022.
The sequel promises to be in the same vein. China is fading away, at least until next fall. She leaves a big void.
