The Beijing Winter Olympics is six years years away. The IOC president Thomas Bach, who is in Lillehammer, Norway, to watch the Winter Youth Olympics says the Beijing games will be a success for both the country and the athletes.
Watching the stars of tomorrow, Bach appeared to enjoy the competition at the Winter Youth Olympic Games. Chances are that some of the athletes that shine there will do the same in the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. Even though it is six years away, Bach gets enthusiastic at the mere mention of Beijing.
“This will be an excellent Olympic Games, there I have no doubts about, given the great determination and the experience of China in organizing big events. I think we can all be very, very confident that these games will be excellent,” Bach said.
Organizing a winter Olympics is one challenge for China, another is building a team that can light up the competition. In the 2014 games in Sochi, China finished 12th in the medal table, but Bach expects improvements.
“China knows that part of the success of the games always depends also on the success of the home team. So I have been informed by the president of the National Olympic Committee recently about the many activities the NOC are already undertaking in forming a strong Chinese team,” Bach said.
One of the key selling points of the Beijing games was the potential legacy it would create. It is estimated that some 300 million people could now take up winter sports in China because of the successful bid. Bach believes that process is underway.
“We see the first effects already, now, after the election of Beijing. We can already see a highly increased interest in winter sports in China—not only in Beijing. And I think this will continue and even accelerate the closer we get to the games,” Bach said.
While Lillehammer has Bach’s full attention, he is already thinking ahead to Beijing—which in 2022 will become first city in the history of the games to host both the summer and Winter Olympics.
