2022 Olympic Winter Games begin today in Beijing

The 2022 Winter Olympics are set to take place today through Sunday, February 20, just six months after the Tokyo Games. 2022 Beijing Olympics begin on Feb. 4 and will run through Feb. 20. The Games will coincide with the host country’s most important holiday, the Chinese New Year, which begins on Feb. 1, 2022. The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in China across three zones: Beijing, Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou. The ice sports will be held in central Beijing, China’s capital, as well as four snow events (snowboard big air and freestyle skiing big air, men’s and women’s).

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies will also take place in Beijing. Yanqing, a mountainous suburb of China’s capital located approximately 75 km (46.6 miles) northwest of Beijing’s city center, will host Alpine skiing and sliding events (bobsleigh, skeleton, and luge) and will also be the home of the Olympic Athletes’ village. Zhangjiakou located approximately 180 kilometers northwest of Beijing (111.8 miles) will host most of the ski and snowboarding events including freestyle, cross-country, ski jumping, Nordic combined, and biathlon. The Opening Ceremony at the Beijing Games will take place on Feb. 4, 2022. The event will be held at the Beijing National Stadium (commonly known as the Bird’s Nest)

Here’s some interesting facts about the Beijing Olympic Winter Games:

The last time Beijing hosted the Olympics was during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Beijing is the first city ever to host both the summer and winter Olympic Games.

For the Winter Olympics 2022, there are 26 venues (including training venues) and they would be running on entirely renewable energy.

More than 346 million Chinese people have participated in winter sports activities since Beijing’s successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics in 2015.

Since Beijing suffers from a lack of snow and air pollution could pose a problem, some events will be hosted at Zhangjiakou which is about 125 miles from the capital.

Zhangjiakou is located approximately 180 kilometers northwest of Beijing. It will host most of the ski and snowboarding events including freestyle, cross-country, ski jumping, Nordic combined, and biathlon.

The Torch Relay for Winter Olympics for 2022 will only visit two cities: Beijing and Zhangjiakou, making this event the shortest relay ever.

The Olympic torch, called “Flying,” has a curled ribbon design, and is similar to the design of the 2008 torch.

The Chinese leg of Torch Relay will have only three days. The relay will start on 2 February, on the morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year.

The Olympic torch, called “Flying,” has a curled ribbon design, and is similar to the design of the 2008 torch.

The official mascot of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is a giant panda named Bing Dwen Dwen.“Bing” means ice and symbolizes purity and strength. “Dwen Dwen” represents children. Overall, the mascot represents the strength and willpower of athletes and the idea behind it is to promote the Olympic spirit.

The medals for the event – named “Tong Xin,” meaning “together as one” – are composed of five rings and a center. The medal design is based on Chinese ancient jade concentric circle pendants. The five rings on the medal represent the Olympic spirit to bring people together and the grandeur of the Olympic Winter Games being shared all over the world.

Skater Gao Tingyu and skeleton athlete Zhao Dan the Chinese delegation’s flag-bearers for the opening of the Winter Olympics.

The use of artificial snow at the Winter Olympics has drawn concerns. The Loughborough University report stated that by 2050, only 10 of the 20 venues that have hosted the Winter Olympics since 1924 will be capable of producing the amount of snow required to hold an international-level competition like the Winter Olympics.

High volumes of water and energy will be required to create artificial snow. However, Beijing has reported that only 2% of the local water supply has been used for the Olympics. At Zhangjiakou, this figure is 9.8%.

109 sets of medals will be awarded in the Winter Olympics 2022. These are seven more than the medals awarded at the last Winter Olympics at PyeongChang 2018.

New events that will be contested are – Women’s Monobob, Men’s and Women’s Big Air (Freestyle Skiing), Mixed Team Snowboard Cross, Mixed Team Aerials, Mixed Team Short Track Relay, and Mixed Team Ski Jumping.

Although most countries will not join the diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Olympics, concerns about Chinese human rights abuses have threatened to derail Beijing’s goals for the 2022 Olympic Games.

In the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games the U.S. finished fourth on the medal table in PyeongChang with a total of 23 medals (9 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze) and is expected to fare a similar result in Beijing.

The first Olympic Winter Games was held in Chamonix, France in 1924 with 16 events.

The Olympic motto is Citius – Altius – Fortius which is from the Latin language and means ‘Faster – Higher – Stronger.’

This year, the Olympics will once again be broadcasted by NBCUniversal and will be televised on its networks, including NBC and USA Network, offering live stream coverage of every single event–that’s over 2,800 hours of Olympic action. Viewers can also tune to NBC, USA, and CNBC to watch the Games. Streaming will also be available via NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. And Olympic streaming is available on FuboTV or SlingTV.

Here is a list of YouTube videos and a website to get your family involved in the Beijing Olympic Winter Games:

Official video of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games emblem

Official video of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games emblem

Beijing 2022 Olympics- We are Ready

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWeQwCsUHek

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: How To Watch The Games

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: How To Watch The Games

NBC Olympics 2022 Winter Olympics promo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwPtnYjETcU

Bing Dwen Dwen- Beijing Winter Olympics mascot

Bing Dwen Dwen – Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Mascot

Parents Guide to Watching the Winter Olympics

https://www.romper.com/entertainment/how-to-watch-2022-winter-olympics

Winter Olympics for Kids- several Olympics activities for children

https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/winter-olympics