This impoverished Chinese city bet its fortunes on the 2022 Winter Olympics. Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened

The organisers had grand plans for a ‘fantastic, extraordinary and excellent’ event. Now the goal is to be ‘simple, safe and splendid’

Zhangjiakou, the city hosting many of the skiing events, is hoping the event will transform its fortunes even though few, if any, spectators will be attending

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Zhangjiakou’s National Ski Jumping Centre in the mountains of Chongli district. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00am, 3 Jan 2022Updated: 10:17am, 3 Jan 2022

In 2015, hours before members of the International Olympic Committee were set to cast their votes on the host country of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a televised appearance.

If the Games were held in China, he promised to personally guarantee that they would be “fantastic, extraordinary and excellent”.

But over the past couple of years, the Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a spanner in the works for these lofty ambitions.

The organising committee has said it will streamline the events, limit spectator numbers and enforce social distancing rules.

Meanwhile, the official description of the host country’s vision for the Games has evolved to “simple, safe, and splendid” – a far cry from Xi’s 2015 comments.

Dented ambitions

The official host city for the Games is Beijing, but many of the skiing and snowboarding events are taking place in Zhangjiakou, a city in Hebei province some 180km (110 miles) north of the capital.