Olympia 2022: Suddenly 150,000 spectators are allowed outside the "closed loop".

Created: 2022-02-04 10:55 p.m

By: Caroline Schäfer

Due to the Corona situation, the presence of spectators outside the Olympic bubble was initially unclear.

An audience of 150,000 people is now expected.

Beijing – The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing* were opened on Friday (02/04/2022).

However, the opening ceremony left a stale aftertaste.

"I thought it was incredibly kitsch," said Wenzel Michalski, Germany head of Human Rights Watch, in an interview with ZDF.

"Because the messages we received there have nothing to do with reality."

Due to the corona pandemic*, strict rules apply to the sporting event.

Because the Omikron variant has now also arrived in Beijing.

To prevent the virus from spreading, the organizers are relying on a closed Olympic bubble, the so-called closed loop.

Staying outside the closed system is prohibited.

This should prevent the Chinese population from coming into contact with foreign guests.

Olympia 2022: organizing committee expects 150,000 guests

The organizing committee now expects around 150,000 spectators outside of the loop.

This was announced during a presentation by the Beijing 2022 organizing committee at the 139th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The tickets for the 2022 Olympics* outside of the loop will not be sold publicly, but will be officially issued.

This was reported by the news portal Inside The Games.

However, it is not known exactly how the allocation takes place.

Furthermore, according to the official Olympic website, the tickets will primarily only be given to "spectators residing in mainland China".

There will therefore hardly be an international audience. 

The Winter Olympics in Beijing will take place from February 4th to 20th, 2022.

© Lu Ye/imago

Olympic Winter Games 2022: No audience at alpine skiing and gliding competitions

Spectators may only be present at the competitions in Beijing and Zhangjiakou.

At the events in Yanqing, no guests are allowed outside the loop.

Above all, the alpine skiing and gliding competitions are held there.

"At each venue, half of the spectators will be present within the closed circle and the other half outside of the closed circle," said the presentation of Beijing 2022. Because of Corona, the presence of visitors before the games was initially unclear and had to be are only determined for the individual venues, Inside The Games reported further.

The Beijing Winter Olympics were met with criticism and protests around the world.

Numerous countries want to boycott the 2022 Olympics*.

The USA, Great Britain and New Zealand, among others, have announced that they will not send any government representatives to Beijing.

This is primarily due to the oppression of ethnic and religious minorities such as Tibetans and Uyghurs.

(kas)