FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 1st, 2022

FAST FACTS ABOUT THE 2022 BEIJING OLYMPICS

FAST FACTS ABOUT THE 2022 BEIJING OLYMPICS

  • The official dates of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games are Friday, February 4 through Sunday, February 20.

 

  • Nearly 3,000 athletes from roughly 95 countries are expected to compete in the 2022 Games.

 

  • Beijing becomes the first city to host both the Olympic Summer Games and Olympic Winter Games. The Games of the XXIX Olympiad were held in Beijing in 2008, and the 2022 Beijing Games are the first Olympic Winter Games to be held in China.

 

  • China becomes the third country in Asia to host the Olympic Winter Games: Japan hosted the 1972 Games in Sapporo and 1998 Games in Nagano, while South Korea hosted the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang. China also becomes the ninth country to host both the summer and winter versions of the Olympics.

 

  • The 2022 Beijing Games coincide with the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival), the biggest, longest and most important holiday in China. The Chinese year 4720 begins February 1, 2022, with celebrations culminating with the Lantern Festival on February 15, 2022. Year 4720 is a Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac, and the tiger is associated with confidence, bravery, passion, daring/sense of adventure, but also, selfishness.

 

  • The 180 days from the Closing Ceremony of the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games until the Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games represent the shortest time between two Games since 1992, the last year the Olympics and Olympic Winter Games were held in the same calendar year. That year, 153 days passed from the Closing Ceremony of the 1992 Albertville Olympic Winter Games to the Opening Ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

 

  • There will be a record 109 events contested in 15 sports during the 2022 Games. There were 102 events on the PyeongChang Olympic program and 98 events on the Sochi Olympic program.

 

  • The seven new medal events include mixed team events in short track, ski jumping, freestyle skiing (aerials) and snowboarding (snowboard cross), as well as men’s and women’s big air in freestyle skiing and women’s monobob in the sport of bobsled.

 

  • The events will be spread between three zones: the Beijing Zone, the Yanqing Zone and the Zhangjiakou Zone. There are 13 venues for the Games, seven of which were newly built.

 

  • The population of Beijing is roughly 21 million (as of Nov. 2021). The city encompasses an area of approximately 1,763 square miles (4,567 square kilometers), and the municipality — technically, the delineation between city and municipality does not exist, however — covers 6,500 square miles (16,800 square kilometers).

 

  • Due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions, a significantly shortened torch relay began in Olympia, Greece, on October 18, 2021. The flame arrived in Beijing on October 20, 2021. The flame will be on display at Beijing Olympic Tower for several months before an abbreviated three-day torch relay is scheduled to start February 2, 2022, involving approximately 1,200 torchbearers in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.

 

  • There are two mascots for the 2022 Beijing Games: one for the Olympics and one for the Paralympics. Bing Dwen Dwen (pronounced “Bing Doon Doon”), a panda, was chosen as the Olympic mascot. The Paralympic mascot, Shuey Rhon Rhon (pronounced “Shway Rohng Rohng”) is a Chinese lantern child, who exudes positivity, and the glow emanating from its heart symbolizes the warmth, friendship, courage and perseverance of Paralympians.