The Beijing Winter Olympics box office is still not open, much to the chagrin of the Chinese public

The Beijing Winter Olympics will take place in a very tense health context, due to the resumption of the Covid epidemic across the world, with the spread of the Omicron variant. The athletes will be confined in a huge sanitary bubble, at the three Olympic venues located in and around Beijing.

No foreign spectator will be able to attend the events. As for the Chinese public, they are still waiting for the ticket office to open, just a few weeks before the Games, which will take place from February 4 to 20. Zengqiang, a seasoned skier, hopes to be able to buy a few tickets, but regrets not being able to approach the sportsmen, health restrictions oblige. “We will not have the opportunity to see the most famous athletes up close”, he said. “I’m afraid I will have to stay in front of my television to watch the proofs.”

Very impatient, winter sports fans are more optimistic and regularly come to the gates of Shougang Sports Complex in Beijing, in case the ticket office opens. “It is a very rare opportunity to be the host country of the Games”, testifies Ying, doctor, who says to himself “very proud and eager to attend the competitions”. “The number of tickets will surely be limited but I’ll give it a try.”

At the Shougang Olympic site in Beijing, where several snowboarding events will take place, Zhao Wei, the site’s operations manager, can not imagine the empty bleachers either. “There were no spectators in Tokyo, I can confirm that here there will be”, assures Zhao Wei, who wants to remain optimistic. “We have 4,900 seats here, and I’m sure the atmosphere will be super warm. But we will obey government decisions.”

In the event of a person who tested positive among the spectators, everything is in place, as in the south of Chongli resort, where the cross-country skiing events will take place.

“We have built two quarantine cabins in the stands, which will accommodate people who test positive, before being transported by ambulance.”

Li Zhenglong, responsible for the construction of the Chongli Olympic site

to franceinfo

Even for the opening ceremony, no information has filtered out on the presence or not of the public in the stands of the Olympic Stadium in Beijing.