A lantern containing the Beijing 2022 Olympic flame
(Image credit: Hou Yu/China News Service via Getty Images)
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games take place from 4-20 February. After hosting the opening ceremony, the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium will also host the closing ceremony. The 2022 Winter Paralympics will then run from 4-13 March.
2. Opening ceremony marks the start of Beijing 2022
(Image credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Beijing 2022’s opening ceremony on 4 February was “a spectacle of music, choreography and technology”, said The Guardian. Fourteen years after overseeing both ceremonies at Beijing 2008, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Zhang Yimou was back as director.
3. How to watch the Winter Olympics on TV in the UK
(Image credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
BBC Sport will broadcast more than 300 hours of live action from Beijing 2022 across BBC TV, digital and radio. Daily coverage will begin on BBC One from midnight until 6am (UK time) with Ayo Akinwolere presenting overnight then from 6am-9am on BBC Two Jeanette Kwakye brings the latest from the slopes and arenas. On BBC One from 9.15am-12pm, Hazel Irvine leads the coverage, before JJ Chalmers takes over at 3pm on BBC Two to show extended replays of the action.
Clare Balding will present Today At The Games every night on BBC Two at 7pm. Then at 8pm the coverage switches to BBC Three where Aimee Fuller presents extended highlights. There will be daily coverage and updates on BBC Radio 5 Live and Fuller will also host the Olympic Mile podcast on BBC Sounds.
Fans in the UK can also watch the action from Beijing via Discovery+, Eurosport 1 and 2, three dedicated pop-up channels, and the Eurosport App. Discovery will have more than 1,000 hours of live-coverage and more than 100 winter sports stars and presenters, as well as immersive technology exclusive to Discovery+ and Eurosport, including the Cube studio.
4. The sports at Beijing 2022
(Image credit: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)
There will be 15 main sports featured at Beijing 2022, with around 3,000 athletes competing in 109 different events, the BBC reported. The sports are:
Alpine skiing
Biathlon
Bobsleigh
Cross-country skiing
Curling
Figure skating
Freestyle skiing
Ice hockey
Luge
Nordic combined
Short track speed skating
Skeleton
Ski jumping
Snowboard
Speed skating
5. Beijing 2022 venues: the three zones
Big Air Shougang at Shougang Park in Beijing
(Image credit: Gao Zehong/VCG via Getty Images)
Beijing is not the only place where the games will be hosted. The venues for the winter games have been divided into three zones: Beijing, Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou. Yanqing, 75km northwest of Beijing’s city centre, is a mountainous suburb with national parks, ski resorts, and the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China, Olympics.com said. Popular ski destination Zhangjiakou is approximately 180km northwest of Beijing.
Beijing zone
Beijing Olympic Village
“Bird’s Nest” National Stadium: opening and closing ceremonies
National Aquatics Centre: curling/wheelchair curling
National Indoor Stadium: ice hockey/para ice hockey
Wukesong Sports Centre: ice hockey
National Speed Skating Oval: speed skating
Capital Indoor Stadium: short track speed skating, figure skating
Big Air Shougang: freestyle skiing big air, snowboard big air
Yanqing zone
Yanqing Olympic Village
National Sliding Centre: bobsleigh, skeleton, luge
National Alpine Ski Centre: alpine skiing/para alpine skiing
Zhangjiakou zone
Zhangjiakou Olympic Village
National Biathlon Centre: biathlon/para biathlon and para cross-country skiing
National Ski Jumping Centre: ski jumping, nordic combined (ski jumping)
National Cross-Country Centre: cross-country, nordic combined (cross-country)
Flag bearers Dave Ryding and Eve Muirhead lead out Team GB
(Image credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s squad has been confirmed for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Team GB will be represented by 50 athletes in China, who will compete in alpine skiing, bobsleigh, cross country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, luge, speed skating, skeleton and snowboarding.
This is an “exciting new chapter” for British winter sport, said Georgina Harland, Team GB’s Chef de Mission. “It promises to be a fantastic Olympics and Team GB will go into the Beijing Games as one of the best prepared teams and one that will be competitive across more disciplines than ever before.”
Alpine skiing
Billy Major (men’s slalom, team event)
Dave Ryding (men’s slalom, team event)
Charlie Guest (women’s slalom, team event)
Alex Tilley (women’s giant slalom, slalom, team event)
Bobsleigh
Brad Hall (men’s two and four-man)
Nick Gleeson (men’s two and four-man)
Greg Cackett (men’s four-man)
Taylor Lawrence (men’s four-man)
Ben Simons (men’s – reserve)
Mica McNeill (women’s)
Montell Douglas (women’s)
Adele Nicoll (women’s – reserve)
Cross country skiing
James Clugnet
Andrew Musgrave
Andrew Young
Curling
Bruce Mouat (men’s and mixed doubles)
Grant Hardie (men’s)
Bobby Lammie (men’s)
Hammy McMillan (men’s)
Ross Whyte (men’s – alternate)
Eve Muirhead (women’s)
Vicky Wright (women’s)
Jen Dodds (women’s and mixed doubles)
Hailey Duff (women’s)
Mili Smith (women’s – alternate)
Figure skating
Natasha McKay (women’s singles)
Lilah Fear (ice dance)
Lewis Gibson (ice dance)
Freestyle skiing
Lloyd Wallace (men’s aerials)
Leonie Gerken-Schofield (women’s moguls)
Makayla Gerken-Schofield (women’s moguls)
Will Feneley (men’s moguls)
Ollie Davies (men’s ski cross)
Gus Kenworthy (men’s ski halfpipe)
Zoe Atkin (women’s ski halfpipe)
James Woods (men’s ski slopestyle and big air)
Izzy Atkin (women’s ski slopestyle and big air)
Kirsty Muir (women’s ski slopestyle and big air)
Katie Summerhayes (women’s ski slopestyle and big air)
Luge
Rupert Staudinger (men’s singles)
Speed skating
Kathryn Thomson (women’s short track 500m, 1000m and 1500m)
Farrell Treacy (men’s short track 1000m and 1500m)
Niall Treacy (men’s short track 1000m)
Cornelius Kersten (men’s long track 1000m and 1500m)
Ellia Smeding (women’s long track 1000m and 1500m)
Skeleton
Laura Deas (women’s)
Brogan Crowley (women’s)
Matt Weston (men’s)
Marcus Wyatt (men’s)
Snowboarding
Huw Nightingale (men’s snowboard cross and team)
Charlotte Bankes (women’s snowboard cross and team)
Katie Ormerod (women’s slopestyle and big air)
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Mike Starling is the former digital features editor at The Week. He started his career in 2001 in Gloucestershire as a sports reporter and sub-editor and has held various roles as a writer and editor at news, travel and B2B publications. He has spoken at a number of sports business conferences and also worked as a consultant creating sports travel content for tourism boards. International experience includes spells living and working in Dubai, UAE; Brisbane, Australia; and Beirut, Lebanon.
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