(ATR) The IOC says preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics are "off to a fast start".
At the close of its first three-day inspection, the IOC had nothing but praise for Games organizers. The International Skiing Federation tells Around the Rings Beijing 2022 is "exceeding our initial expectations".
The IOC’s 18-member delegation was involved in a series of closed-door meetings with Beijing 2022 officials focused on governance, sport, venues and infrastructure, commercial, and communications and engagement.
Venue tours took IOC officials and Olympic experts to the mountains in Zhangjiakou, the Alpine and Nordic skiing in Yanqing and ice venues in Beijing.
The commission also visited Beijing 2022’s new headquarters in a converted steel plant on the western edge of the city.
"We are pleased with what we have learned. Beijing 2022 is off to a fast start. Initial preparations are well on track," IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch told reporters at the joint news conference with Beijing 2022 executive vice president Zhang Jiandong.
Samaranch led the last two days of the IOC inspection, taking the place of CoComm chair Alexander Zhukov who had to return to Russia Monday night for a presidential council meeting on sport. Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed on Tuesday that Zhukov was resigning his post as president of the Russian Olympic Committee.
But Zhukov did meet with China’s Olympic chiefs and 2022 organizers over the weekend before he was called away. In a statement Wednesday, he said Beijing 2022’s vision of a creating a world-class winter sports center "is becoming a reality".
"It is a formidable opportunity to have such excellent facilities for skiing and other snow sports so close to a major city," he added.
Beijing 2022 said "effective discussions" with the IOC team had "achieved fruitful results".
Vice president Zhang said the two sides had "reached consensus on a wide range of aspects, and further defined the directions and priorities for the Games preparation".
There was no official update about progress on the billion-dollar Olympic infrastructure project, a planned high-speed rail link between Beijing and the mountains. But Samaranch said site visits in Zhangjiakou and Yanqing confirmed that Beijing 2022 "remains fully committed to the legacy goal of developing world-class winter sports facilities".
Samaranch also expressed confidence that China will not censor the internet and social media platforms at the 2022 Olympics. Censorship of the internet, which includes blocking sites such as Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, overshadowed the days leading up to the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
Asked to comment about China’s pledge for an uncensored Internet, Samaranch said: "It's guaranteed in the bid.
"All the experience that we've had with Beijing is that they've always delivered on their word. We are confident that will be the case," he was quoted by Reuters.
Ski Federation Praise
"We are extremely impressed with the current status on multiple levels," FIS secretary general Sarah Lewis, who was part of the IOC delegation in Beijing, told ATR of Beijing’s preparations.
She praised organizers for their work on venue development and sports management. Lewis also applauded the Chinese Ski Association's activities "to develop the athletes and teams in which they are not yet active or strong, as well as the close and effective collaboration with each of the FIS discipline's competition management".
"From a broader perspective, the actions that are already underway to develop recreational winter sport in China are very, very progressive," Lewis said.
Summing up following the IOC’s first check-up on Beijing 2022, she added: "The progress for Beijing 2022 is definitely exceeding our initial expectations at this stage and we have every confidence in the preparations for these Games and for them to serve as a catalyst to the development of winter sports in a major way in China."
Reported by Mark Bisson
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