BEIJING — Fourteen years after the Summer Games that announced China to the world, the Bird’s Nest stadium lit up again on Friday night. The 2022 Winter Olympics are open, making Beijing the first city to host both editions — though the two occasions could hardly feel more different.
Where 2008 was a carnival of soft power before 91,000 spectators, these Games are sealed inside an anti-Covid “closed loop”. Athletes, officials and journalists move between venues and hotels without contact with the rest of the city; everyone is tested daily; tickets were never sold to the general public. The spectators in the stands are invited guests.
The politics are sealed in too. Several countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia, have announced a diplomatic boycott over China’s human rights record — their athletes compete, their officials stay away. China has dismissed the gesture as a provocation and warned against politicising the Games.
On the ice and snow, the sporting questions are familiar ones: can Norway dominate the medals again, how will the skiers of the Alps handle artificial snow, and whether the host’s investment in winter sport since 2015 will translate into home medals.
For the next sixteen days, around 2,900 athletes will compete across three zones. The International Olympic Committee, criticised for awarding the Games here, insists sport and politics can be kept apart. The empty seats will argue otherwise.
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