Friday, February 4, the Olympic anthem will again resound in the “bird’s nest”, the National Stadium in Beijing. The Chinese capital hosts, until February 20, the XXIVand Winter Olympic Games (OG), fourteen years after having organized those of summer, a first for the same city.
The opening ceremony, directed by filmmaker Zhang Yimou, promises to be spectacular. It will not fail to demonstrate to the eyes of the world the richness of China’s history and its unlimited power. “People will be surprised”promises the director ofWives and concubines.
Failing to be surprised, the world is worried today. Beijing wanted to make “its” Winter Games the first of the post-Covid era, it failed. The fight against the virus and its variants is still ongoing, six months after the Tokyo Olympics postponed by a year because of the pandemic.
China – the initial focus of contamination at the end of 2019 –, which thought its zero Covid strategy was the best way to contain the virus, now seems panicked: cases of contamination by the Omicron variant are increasing in the country, particularly in the capital city.
These are “bubble” Games that open. Athletes as well as official representatives, media and some guests must be vaccinated or risk being placed in solitary confinement for twenty-one days. They will be subjected to daily screening tests on site and the athletes ordered to leave the health “bubble”, which the organizers hope is as tight as possible, as soon as their events are over.
Under no circumstances should the Chinese population be in contact with a member of the Olympic delegation. In addition, a positive test, and farewell to the dreams of medals for the approximately 2,900 athletes present. Added to this is the fear that the health situation will serve as a pretext for the Chinese authorities to electronically monitor the foreign delegations present on their soil. Some have already issued warnings about the risk of being hacked.
The events will be held almost behind closed doors: only a few spectators will be able – by invitation – to attend. For the party and the communion with the public, central elements of the magic of the Games, we will come back, but Tokyo has already got us used to it.
Forget also the postcard and the beautiful images. In Beijing, it is cold, very cold even, there is wind, but no snow – less than in Paris last winter. So, since mid-November 2021, the guns have been running at full speed.
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