With the 23^rd edition of the Winter Olympics having just closed in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the baton has officially been passed to Beijing, which will host the games’ next instalment in February 2022, thereby making the Chinese capital the first city to host both the summer and winter events.

Nevertheless, the Pyeongchang games suggested there’s room for the future host nation to improve, with China topping the podium only once in the men’s 500 metres short track speed skating and finishing 16th in the overall standings. While China’s haul also included six silver and two bronze medals (another four of which came in skating events), it will have to up its game if it is to retain some pride when the sporting world shifts its attention towards Beijing in four years’ time.

Over the next Olympiad (as the ancient Greeks called the four year period between events) relative winter sport newcomer China is focusing not only on improving the quality of its own athletes, but also on generating greater interest in the games among the general public. In 2016 the Beijing government stated that it aims to turn 300 million Chinese into winter sports fans in time for the 2022 games – a target that has become increasingly pressing in light of low attendance numbers at many events in Pyeongchang, as well as questions already being raised about many of the facilities used in Korea becoming idle ‘white elephants’  […]

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Image: NISEKO Grand HIRAFU by Miki Yoshihito   Source:  Flickr  Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)