According to the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, the Beijing 2022 will represent the beginning of a new era for global winter sports, with the participátion of 300 million Chinese taking up winter sports, he said at the 139th IOC Session in the Chinese capital on the eve of the Opening Ceremony.
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Bach noted that Beijing became the first city ever to host the Olympic Games' summer and winter editions on Friday. He believes that the Chinese people will be pleased with the social benefits of hosting the Games.
"Today, China is a winter sports country. The increased physical activity through winter sport is contributing to the health and well-being of the Chinese people," the IOC President said. In the meantime, the Chinese winter games will for sure have positive impacts on the economic sector.
The IOC President noted that the Asian country saw over 61 billion US dollars in last season's games income. In 2019, more than 100 million people visited the Olympic mountain regions alone as tourism.
In 2015 when Beijing was elected as host, the Chongli district's people, where the Zhangjiakou competition zone is located, were living in poverty, and by 2019 the region was stated as free of poverty. "Today, over 20 percent of the (Chongli) residents are employed in jobs related to winter sports," Bach stated.
"From re-using venues from the Olympic Games 2008; to powering all Beijing 2022 venues with renewable energy; to minimizing environmental impacts and reducing carbon emissions, all these initiatives underline the commitment of Beijing 2022 to contribute to sustainable development in China," the IOC President underlined.
"These Games are not the end of the story. With their performance and their appearance, each of these athletes can win over a huge new fan community for the time after the Games. With this they can take their popularity and the popularity of their winter sport to new heights," he added.