When are the Beijing Games held?
On Friday, February 4, the 2022 Winter Olympics will begin with the Opening Ceremony in Beijing.
ZDF broadcasts the ceremony in the Chinese capital from 12:10 p.m.
The first medal decisions will follow on Saturday. A total of 109 competitions in 15 disciplines will be held until February 20th.
The Paralympics in Beijing will follow a month later, taking place from March 4th to 13th.
Why actually Beijing?
It's about propaganda and profit.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and China are hoping to open up a new market - on the TVs (TV marketing is the IOC's main source of income) and on the ski slopes.
By 2025, the government wants to inspire 300 million people from China to take part in winter sports.
Numerous ski resorts and ice rinks have been created across the country.
Beijing will be the first city to have hosted Summer Olympics (2008) and Winter Games.
Authoritarian China with President Xi Jinping will try to use the Games stage to present itself as a cosmopolitan host.
The country has been heavily criticized for its human rights record, but more on that in a moment.
Does it even snow there?
Barely.
In addition to Beijing, there will also be the higher-lying Yanqing (90 kilometers from Beijing) and Zhangjiakou zones (220 kilometers), where alpine competitions and biathlon will take place, among other things.
However, the organizers will also have to rely on artificial snow production here - the Olympic region has a cold winter, but is considered one of the driest areas in the world.
Only five centimeters of snow per year normally fall here.
However, professional skiers are used to competing on artificial snow as, in a warming world, other, more traditional winter sports areas are also experiencing increasing snow problems.
Who else was up for election when the games were awarded?
China's only competitor for the award in 2015 was Almaty in Kazakhstan.
In the final round, 44 votes went to Beijing and 40 to Almaty.
Other interested parties withdrew in advance, including Munich, where citizens had decided in a survey not to apply for the 2022 Winter Games.
It is said that cost explosions such as in Sochi 2014 or the deterioration of sports facilities at the Athens Games in 2004 and the associated question of the sustainability of such large-scale projects were the decisive factors in the Olympic rejection.
The host of the 2026 Winter Games is the Alpine region of Milan and Cortina.
Why is China criticized?
Human rights violations in dealing with Uyghurs and Tibetans, the suppression of the democracy movement in Hong Kong and threats against Taiwan - there are serious allegations against those in power in Beijing.
The China expert and journalist Felix Lee said in a current edition of "Hart aber fair" that the human rights situation in China has deteriorated considerably since the Olympics were awarded in 2015, but the IOC has failed to position itself since then.
The IOC around President Thomas Bach is silent on the human rights situation and defends its position.
"If I don't make political comments, I don't take sides," Bach said at last.
A move would be a "politicization" and could "mean the end of the Olympic Games," said Bach.
Critics, on the other hand, argue that the assignment to Beijing was already a political statement by the IOC.
What about environmental protection?
Activists criticize the swank involved in building competition venues in the mountain region (including a state-of-the-art toboggan run) and the waste of electricity and water for the snow cannons that have been running for weeks.
China repeatedly advertised sustainable winter games.
Only green electricity is used for artificial snow production.
Foreign experts consider this account to be implausible due to the lack of evidence and extreme water shortages in the regions where the games are taking place.
The Strasbourg professor of hydrology Carmen de Jong has been criticizing the effects of artificial snow production on ski areas for years, lamenting the irreversible consequences of the construction of reservoirs and water pipes.
She told SPIEGEL about the winter games in China: "The games will be the most unsustainable of all time."
Will there be a boycott?
Activists around the world are calling on countries, sponsors and athletes to boycott the games. The protest movement intensified in November when Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, temporarily disappeared from public life. She previously accused a former senior government official of sexual assault. She has since given interviews to Chinese state media and has withdrawn her allegations, but her freedom is being questioned.
Several countries have announced diplomatic boycotts of the games, meaning their government officials will not attend any ceremonies or events, including the US, UK and France.
Germany had not yet announced an official stance under Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
A sporting boycott by a nation has not been announced and seems unlikely.
What happens when athletes protest against China?
Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter states that "any political, religious or racist demonstration or propaganda" is to be avoided.
The controversial rule was relaxed last year under pressure from the athletes - a little.
Symbolic gestures are now permitted in the arenas - such as raising your fist or kneeling (but not during an award ceremony or other official ceremonies).
The IOC was recently unable to answer what would happen if an athlete explicitly criticized the Chinese government during the games.
"I think we have to wait for concrete examples," said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.
The Chinese organizing committee warns of penalties.
"Any conduct or statement that violates the Olympic spirit, especially Chinese laws and regulations, faces penalties," said Yang Shu, chief of the Games' international relations department.
What do the games cost?
According to the official website, the budget is 3.5 billion euros, which would be the lowest amount for the Winter Games in around 20 years.
The Russian games in Sochi are said to have cost 40 billion euros.
The Olympics have never been more expensive.
However, many expenses such as the high investments for the new ski area and the construction of new railway lines and roads are not included in China's calculation.
Experts estimate the total costs to be tenfold.
China wants to recoup some of the costs by selling the apartments in the Olympic villages.
And, at least: Some of the venues of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing are now being used again.
How is China dealing with Corona?
China is pursuing a zero-Covid strategy, the daily number of new infections is usually less than 100. It should stay that way: The winter games in times of the highly contagious virus variant Omicron are an endurance test.
As with the Summer Games in Japan in 2021, the organizers in Beijing have set up a closed system, a “bubble”, albeit more strictly.
Sealed off from the Chinese population, athletes and all other participants in the games move in a parallel world.
In Tokyo, this Olympic “bubble” could be left on the 15th day after entry, but this option does not exist in China.
This also means that freedom of the press around the Games will be severely restricted.
Daily PCR tests and the constant obligation to wear masks are part of the hygiene protocol.
Infected people have to isolate themselves in quarantine hotels – 232 participants who had tested positive on arrival in Beijing or after entering the bladder had to go there (as of February 2).
Foreign fans are not allowed.
Also in China there were no event tickets for free sale, only selected people are allowed on the stands.
Are there new sports and competitions?
A new sport has not been created out of thin air, but there will be seven competitions (109 in total) more than in PyeongChang 2018.
These events are making their debut in Beijing:
In short track and in ski jumping there is a mixed team competition.
In the bob, the monobob for women is included in the program.
In freestyle skiing, a mixed team competition in jumping and big air for men and women will be added
In snowboarding, there will be a mixed team competition in snowboard cross.
Where and when will the games be broadcast?
Olympia will be broadcast by Eurosport, ARD and ZDF.
Due to the time difference of seven hours (before Germany), fans of alpine events in particular have to set their alarm clock early, and many medal decisions in figure skating, snowboarding and freestyle skiing are also made on the German night.
On the other hand, spectators can tune in to biathlon, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and the competitions on the ice track in the morning and early afternoon.
Here you can find the schedule of the games.
Where do the German athletes have good chances?
Fourteen gold medals, ten silver medals and seven bronze medals – that was the German record four years ago in South Korea.
It meant second place in the medal table behind Norway.
What can you expect this time?
A selection of German medal chances:
In the eleven competitions in biathlon, there should be medals for Germany - especially for women.
The biathletes around
Denise Herrmann
and
Franziska Preuß
are given good chances of a podium finish.
Bob pilot
Francesco Friedrich
won two gold medals in Pyeongchang and is one of the top favorites this time too.
For women,
the focus is on Olympic champion
Mariama Jamanka .
In
tobogganing
, too , the German starters (read a text about Natalie Geisenberger here) and starters are among the top performers.
Four years ago, Germany won a silver medal in skeleton, with
Jacqueline Lölling
securing the precious metal.
This time she could land far ahead again.
And the men are also hoping for medals, especially
Christopher Grotheer
, who is competing as a two-time individual world champion in Beijing.
In ski jumping, hopes rest on
Karl Geiger
and
Markus Eisenbichler
as well as
Katharina Althaus
.
Altogether there will be five decisions in ski jumping.
Snowboarder
Ramona Hofmeister
, third in Pyeongchang in the parallel giant slalom, counts on medal chances this time too.
Eleven gold medals are awarded in snowboarding alone.
Silver in Pyeongchang, fourth place at the World Cup: The
German ice hockey men
were recently among the top teams.
Will it be enough for precious metal this time?
The most recent European Handball Championship showed how quickly Corona can become a problem in a team sport.
And: The German selection has to do without superstar Leon Draisaitl again.
The North American NHL is not letting its best players go to China because of corona problems.
The final of the Olympic ice hockey tournament will take place on February 20th.
Then the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing will also end.
With material from dpa