beijing2022_01

Background for winter olympic game in Beijing, China, 2022. Red pictogram of all sports in background.

The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games (Chinese: 第二十四届冬季奥林匹克运动会; pinyin: Dì Èrshísì Jiè Dōngjì Àolínpǐkè Yùndònghuì) and commonly known as Beijing 2022, is an upcoming international winter multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing and venues near the neighboring towns of Yanqing and Chongli in China.[2] Some sports will begin competition on 2 February.[3]

Beijing was elected as host city in July 2015 at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur. The 2022 Winter Olympics will be the first Winter Olympics in China, and the last of three consecutive Olympics in East Asia (after the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan). As its second Olympic Games, Beijing will be the first city to have ever hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics: four existing indoor venues originally constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics will be used as part of these Games, while the Beijing National Stadium will again host the opening and closing ceremonies.

These Winter Olympics have been the subject of diplomatic boycotts due to the Uyghur genocide, the general human rights situation in China and various other concerns and controversies. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and various European Union nations have declared a diplomatic boycott of the Games, along with Australia and Kosovo, although they will all send athletes to compete, no ministers or officials will attend.[4][5] Like the last 2020 Summer Olympics, which was held six months earlier in Tokyo, these Games are impacted by the international COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the implementation of health and safety protocols, and restrictions on public attendance of the Games.