Xinhua News Agency Lausanne, June 24 issue: inspiration from Italy to Beijing 2022 in the 2026 Winter Olympics
Xinhua News Agency reporter Ji Ye, Prince Jiang Gaopeng
welcoming Pyeongchang 2018, after three consecutive Asian cycles in Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022, the Olympic Games came to Europe. Milan/Cortina Pezzo of Italy defeated Stockholm/Ole of Sweden on 24th and won the right to host the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The firmer support from the government and the public, making the Olympics more suitable for local development, making full use of existing or temporary venues, etc., have become the key to Italy’s victory. The new concept reflected by this Olympic bid also inspires the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, which is being prepared.
Government and public support are crucial
if according to the standards before the International Olympic Committee, the final two groups of candidate bidding places may not reach the end. Under the guidance of “Olympic 2020 agenda” and “new norms”, today’s Olympic bidding procedures are more flexible, and the IOC has reduced the requirements of financial guarantee and government support. However, from the final result, these options are still very important.
Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, said bluntly when summarizing the reasons for Italy’s victory: “The biggest difference between the two sides lies in the public support rate.” According to a third-party independent survey, the support rate of 83 percent in Italy is much higher than that of 55 percent in Sweden.
Behind this, the commitment of the host government in security, finance, Visa and other aspects is also indispensable to the IOC.
After several months of intense cross-camp negotiations, Sweden formed a new government in January this year, which also led to the delay in Sweden’s bid for the Olympics without firm support from the government. It was not until April this year that the Swedish government provided guarantees, which had exceeded the deadline required by the International Olympic Committee for three months.
While the Italian government promised to the International Olympic Committee earlier than Sweden, strong government support is undoubtedly a major reason for Italy’s victory.
Fully understand the “new norms” of the Olympic Games
from the end of 2014 when the Olympic 2020 agenda was approved, to the opening of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics when the “new norms” were promulgated “, the IOC has been working hard to fundamentally reshape the future Olympic model.
According to the evaluation report of the International Olympic Committee, both groups of bidding sites plan to use about 80% of the existing and temporary venues, and the proportion of the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics is 60%.
The operating cost of the Olympic Games in the two groups of bidding places is also 20% lower than the budget of the previous two Winter Olympics bidding stages (about 0.4 billion US dollars), and the entire bid budget is also reduced by more than 75% compared with the previous two sessions. The IOC very much hopes to convey a message through this bid that the Olympic cost is controllable.
The outside world once worried that Italy’s excessive debt burden would affect their prospects for the Olympic bid. After all, Rome withdrew for economic reasons when bidding for the 2020 Olympic Games. However, Italy has always stressed that the region where Milan/Cortina danpezo is located is relatively rich during this Olympic bid, and they also believe that hosting the Winter Olympics will further stimulate the development of economy of Italy.
One of the highlights of Sweden’s bid for the Olympic Games is that in order to avoid the “white elephant project”, they chose to use Sigulda, a Laty across the sea from Stockholm as a snowmobile sled venue. This is in line with the more flexible and affordable concept emphasized by the International Olympic Committee.
However, the resulting inter-regional traffic problems have also been questioned by the International Olympic Committee many times. In Sweden, the two competition areas, Ole and sigurda, are one hour from Stockholm, another competition area.
In addition, Italy once held three Olympic Games. In addition to the 1956 Winter Olympics, there were Rome Summer Olympics in 1960 and Turin Winter Olympics in 2006. Sweden has never held the Winter Olympics, and the lack of experience in hosting the Games is also an unfavorable factor for Sweden.
Create the “Beijing plan” for the Olympic reform
whether it is the sustainable development emphasized in the Olympic 2020 agenda, the improvement of credibility and the attraction of young people, or the simplified bidding process required by the “new norm, reducing the Olympic capital and sharing the host pressure will make the future Olympic Games more flexible, effective and sustainable.
The conclusion of the chairman of the evaluation committee of the International Olympic Committee moralou is of great reference value :
“Our goal is to adapt the Olympic Games to the city, not to adapt the city to the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games should be adapted to the long-term development goals of cities and regions. The International Olympic Committee requires the bidding city to focus on cost reduction, heritage-driven and more sustainable, and to make full use of existing and temporary venues. The most important thing is to let the core concept of athletes run through all the time.”
At the beginning of the bid for Beijing Winter Olympics, athletes were emphasized as the core, and now the preparation work is also organically combined with the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. Of the 13 venues in the Beijing division, 11 have hosted the 2008 Olympic Games. Beijing is striving to build a “Beijing plan” for the benign interaction and win-win development between the Olympic movement and the city “.
Little Samaranch, the first vice chairman of the International Olympic Committee and chairman of the Beijing Winter Olympics Coordination Committee, said: “Beijing is fully implementing the Olympic 2020 agenda, and we will fully cooperate to make the Beijing Winter Olympics in the economy, budget and all aspects are more sustainable.”
Sarah, the mayor of Milan, also said after the success of the Olympic bid that she expected to take over the Olympic flag from Beijing organizers in 2022. “We hope to take advantage of the opportunity to hold the Winter Olympics and have more exchanges and discussions with Beijing. I believe we will learn a lot from Beijing.”