China completes the construction of main venues for Winter Games 2022
China will focus throughout 2019 on the construction of infrastructures for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, including the four new venues of the competition in Beijing and the co-host Zhangjiakou, in the province of Hebei (north), reported today. the China Daily newspaper.
According to the state newspaper, the Asian country will "accelerate" this year the works of the main sports centers, including the National Speed Skating Track (center of Beijing), the National Alpine Ski Center (Yanqing county) and the Center of Sliding Sports (Zhangjiakou), three of the twenty-six centers where the competition will be held.
Also, the main structures of the four new venues of the Beijing competition will end at the end of 2019, including the 'big air' track - or acrobatic ski - in the Shougang Industrial Park, west of the city, according to the organization regulator of the capital.
As for the alpine ski center in Yangqing, one of the two counties located north of Beijing, authorities expect to hold the first competitive events next year, said Wang Gang, one of the project managers of the Winter Games.
"We are well ahead of schedule to prepare all the Winter Games venues, and we hope that the new venues in downtown Beijing and Yanqing will take shape this year," he said.
The official also assured that the adaptation of eight former venues of the 2008 Olympic Games is in "full development" and is expected to be operational by the beginning of 2021.
In this sense, the authorities are focused on the remodeling of the National Acting Center of Beijing to host the curling competition in 2022, as well as the Beijing National Indoor Stadium for ice hockey.
For its part, the governor of Hebei Province, Xu Qin, announced yesterday that this year the construction of Zhangjiaoku's new centers will be completed, which will host six snow competitions - snowboarding, acrobatic skiing, cross-country skiing, skiing, Nordic combined and biathlon- in the mountainous district of Chongli.
The district, located about 150 kilometers northeast of Beijing, will be connected by high-speed trains from the capital, which will reduce the journey from three hours by bus to 50 minutes, China Daily said.
Also this year will open the high-speed line between Beijing and Zhangjiakou and the one that will connect the Chongli district with Yangqing county, connecting all the centers of the competition, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
