Editorial
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, which ended with a touching closing ceremony last night, have been a splendid success – and safe to boot!
The event’s motto “Together for a shared future” hit the nail on the head. The Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCWOG) deserves praise for having been able to host a smooth and happy Games during “truly exceptionally” difficult times.
The committee’s closed-loop approach succeeded in keeping COVID-19 at bay without turning the Games into a joy-killer. I watched the Games on TV every day, and I was content to see so many happy athletes from the 91 countries and territories that sent delegations to Beijing. The closed-loop – in conjunction with the Chinese mainland’s extremely strict but highly efficient “dynamic” zero-COVID strategy – was the only practical way to protect the over 2,800 athletes from the virus. Safety is the most fundamental condition for any Olympics anyway – and health is the conditio sine qua non for athletes to be able to give their best. The organising committee kept its promise to provide all the Olympians with a safe environment to compete in. Well done!
The Games also faced the poorly thought-through attempt by the Biden administration to organise a global “diplomatic boycott”. It failed miserably since fewer than a dozen countries joined Washington in the ultimately ill-fated bid.
Team USA nevertheless took part in the Games and they ended fourth on the medals table – after Norway, Germany and China. According to what I saw on TV, the US athletes enjoyed their stay in Beijing. I am happy about that because the relationship between the American and Chinese peoples is the world’s most important. That’s a fact for a variety of reasons – political, economic, financial, military and so on.
After all, as the Beijing 2022 motto proclaimed, let’s all be together for a shared future. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the US launched their rapprochement in the early 1970s with their legendary ping-pong diplomacy. In general, sports should be kept free of the potentially negative impact of politics but sports can sometimes be used for politics in a positive way.
Dozens of foreign heads of state and government as well as international organisations visited Beijing during the Winter Games to show their solidarity with the event, including quite a few from Western countries. They took the right decision. The aim of the Olympics should always be to bring countries with different political, social and economic systems and different cultures, ideologies and religions together.
I agree with IOC President Thomas Bach that the Beijing Winter Games were “truly exceptional”. Yes, they were because politically they took place at “truly exceptional” times due to rising tension internationally and the still struggling response to the pandemic.
The Games were also “truly exceptional” because their organisation was “truly exceptional”. I am sure there are very few other countries that would have been able to organise the Games as smoothly, safely and efficiently as China did during those “truly exceptional” times.
Due to the COVID-19 threat, the Games were streamlined but they still managed to be splendid. That’s exactly what President Xi Jinping promised the world a few months ago – a streamlined, safe and splendid Games. He kept his promise.
I loved tobogganing as a child and I am still a big fan of all sledging and sleighing events at the Olympics. I am happy that my home country’s bobsled team was rather successful in Beijing (that’s almost an understatement). The legendary Jamaican bobsleigh team didn’t win a medal (as in previous Olympics) but they didn’t finish last either. The lone skier who represented East Timor tried his best but didn’t finish. Well, no problem, what matters is that the Jamaicans and the East Timorese took part in the Games.
I am quite sure that the Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing from March 4-13 will be another success story. Of course, we will cover them as well, as we did with previous Paralympics.
– Harald Brüning
