The Beijing Winter Olympics ignited the world's passion

Source: People's Daily

Today, Beijing will create a new history, becoming the first "double Olympic city" to host both the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games.

With the realization of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports", the Beijing Winter Olympics will permanently change the global ice and snow sports pattern and open a new era for its development.

In the days following the opening ceremony, under the gaze of billions of spectators around the world, the best ice and snow athletes from all over the world will compete for Olympic supremacy on the field and live in friendliness and peace under the same roof of the Olympic Village. The Beijing Winter Olympics will send a powerful message to the world: it is entirely possible for people to live in peace, respect each other, and compete for the highest prizes!

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have received widespread support from the international community, giving more important and far-reaching significance to this information.

The preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics are outstanding, and the spectacular and beautiful venues of the Winter Olympic Games are the best in the world, providing a good stage for athletes to express themselves. Many of the Venues of the Winter Olympics are built on the legacy of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In 2008, the unforgettable opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games were staged at the "Bird's Nest" of the National Stadium, and 14 years later, at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the stadium will once again shoulder the heavy responsibility, and the wonderful opening and closing ceremonies will be held here. The National Aquatics Center, the swimming venue of the Beijing Olympic Games, is affectionately and figuratively known as the "Water Cube". With the help of the energy-saving ice system, the swimming pool with 10 lanes will be transformed into a curling venue during the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the "Water Cube" will also be transformed into the "Ice Cube".

In the former Shougang Industrial Park, the world's first permanently retained and used ski jumping platform was erected, which is another feat of innovation at the Beijing Winter Olympics. We look forward to seeing it fully utilized for many years to come. These Winter Olympic venues, all powered by clean energy, are shown to the world that China will ensure the long-term and sustainable development of ice and snow sports through innovation.

As excitement and anticipation continue to gather here, we are also confident that Beijing will host a safe and healthy Winter Olympics. With the right amount of epidemic prevention measures and the detailed guidelines in the Epidemic Prevention Handbook, all measures to protect safety and health have been put in place by experts from around the world, allowing Winter Olympic athletes, other participants and the Chinese public to enjoy the ice and snow event.

The Olympic Games are not just 16-day sports competitions, but also hope to leave an "Olympic legacy" for the host and promote local transformation and development. All indications are that the Beijing Winter Olympics have realized the vision of bringing Chinese people to participate in ice and snow sports.

After the Beijing Winter Olympics, the boom in winter sports will spread across the land of China, and more than 300 million Chinese sports enthusiasts will be able to enjoy ice and snow sports for many years to come. The Winter Olympic venues, together with ski resorts and ice skating rinks across the country, will jointly declare that China has truly become one of the ice and snow sports countries in the world.

On the eve of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee and all the institutions involved in the organization and preparation of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games!

The world is ready to watch the best athletes from China and around the world perform on the grandest stage. At this moment, the Beijing Winter Olympics is a timely reminder, which reminds the world that only when we unite can we become faster, higher and stronger!

I sincerely invite everyone to join in this historic celebration of the Olympic spirit!

(The writer is president of the International Olympic Committee)