2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: Answers to Some Big Questions

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing are right around the corner, with all kinds of questions — about international politics, public health and, yes, even sports — hanging over them.

So here’s what we know so far.

When are the Beijing Olympics?

The opening ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 4, a Friday, though some preliminary events will be held in the days before. The closing ceremony is Feb. 20, a Sunday. In all, there will be 19 days of competition across 15 sports.

This year’s Paralympics, also based in Beijing, are scheduled for March 4 to 13.

Is there any chance the Games could be delayed, or even canceled, because of the pandemic?

Anything is possible, but the International Olympic Committee and Olympic organizers in Beijing have gone out of their way to emphasize that the Games will go on as planned. Asked in early December whether he could envision a situation in which the Games had to be postponed, Juan Antonio Samaranch, a top Olympic official, was blunt. “The answer is no,” he said. “In a Covid world, you have to be flexible, and you have to be able to adapt rapidly to changing conditions. We have that in Beijing.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/article/olympics-beijing-faq.html