Editor’s note: The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will kick off on February 4, 2022, making Beijing the world’s first dual Olympic city. As the second Olympics held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, how is China preparing for the international event? What are people from different countries looking forward to in the Games? GDToday & Newsgd.com will present you “Internet Celebrities on Beijing 2022” in the coming days.
“I really do enjoy big worldwide events like the Winter Olympics; a majority of the winter sports are cool to watch.” Lee Barrett, said elatedly in a recent interview with GDToday. The British man runs his channel with his son Oli on YouTube (330.1K followers) and they are now based in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.
His favorite winter sports are freestyle snowboarding and curling. He especially, enjoys the latter: “I like to watch that because it's like the chess on ice. There's a lot of planning ahead and thinking about what you're gonna do.”
Lee Barrett. (Photo provided to Newsgd.com)
China proved capable of holding world-class events with 2008 Summer Olympic Games
With a week to go, Beijing will become the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. In Barrett’s mind, China proved that they are capable of holding world-class events with the 2008 Games, “China has achieved significant development since 2008. I find the infrastructure to hold the Winter Olympics is rather impressive as all of the stadiums will use renewable energy.”
At the Beijing 2022 Games, 100 percent green electricity supply will be achieved for the first time in Olympic history. Among the sports venues, one that sticks in Barrett’s mind is the “Water Cube” in the 2008 Summer Olympics. This time, it will turn into the “Ice Cube” for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, where curling events will be hosted.
On January 26, 2022, a staff member made preparations at the “Ice Cube”. (Photo: Xinhua)
Photo taken on January 27, 2022 shows the outside view of the “Ice Cube”. (Photo: Xinhua)
At Big Air Shougang, the venue for freestyle and snowboard big air events at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, Barrett experienced all the hydrogen buses there to carry the athletes and the staff around.
Photo taken on January 20, 2022 shows the Snowfall Big Air Shougang in the snow. (Photo: Xinhua)
He added: “There's not really that many cities that have that difference in temperature enough; it's also a city that gets warm enough in the summer to host summer games and cold enough in the winter. The two host cities are very close, with a lot of snow in Zhangjiakou.
It can be reached within 1 hour from Beijing to Taizicheng, Zhangjiakou, one of the main venues of the Winter Olympics. And it only takes 47 minutes from Zhangjiakou to Beijing (to Qinghe Station). Barrett commented: “It's very convenient for athletes as well.”
Sports should never be political
The United States’ announcement of a so-called "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in the name of protecting human rights in Xinjiang, from the perspective of Barrett, is “the sort of same old thing they use again and again”.
He explained: “They call themselves a free market and a democratic country; they go and invade other countries and occupy them. They can't do that with China. So, they are just using these excuses to try attack and put sanctions on China.” He thought using human rights as an excuse, is always very motivated to people. “It's easier to get their populations to believe something by playing on their emotions.”
Barrett is a very firm believer that sports should never turn into politics. “But you can see the US do it time and time again. Actually, not really many countries have actually followed them,” he added, “Interestingly, after the “diplomatic boycott”, the US has applied for numerous visas for their diplomats to come.”
China has granted visas to some members of the US team composed of government officials. The US delegation for the Beijing Winter Olympics comprises a large number of government officials, including those from the Department of State, and many of them hold diplomatic or service passports.
He concluded: “It seems as that they can't make up their mind. They know that at the time of the Olympics, a worldwide event, they will have worldwide media attention. So, they can then push that narrative even further.”
Western countries made all these promises, but didn't deliver on them
The new motto of the Olympics, which now reads "Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together," was unanimously approved at the 138th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 20, 2021. Barrett believes it is a really important message to bring us together to help each other.
“You see what China has done with vaccines, for example, they donated way more vaccines while many of the western countries made all the promises that they fail to keep.” According to Dose of Reality--a report released by the People’s Vaccine Alliance on October 21, 2021, of the 1.8 billion doses collectively promised by the G7 and Team Europe, only 261 million doses, or 14 percent have been delivered to low-and middle-income countries.
He stressed: “Now, we're not gonna get rid of the worldwide pandemic unless these poor countries are helped. And I see that China is doing such a lot to tell that. We need to all work together to solve problems, not work against each other.” In his opinion, that's the spirit of the Olympic Games; the IOC's motto is to work together and be non-political.
Author | Lydia, Hannah
Editor | Steven, Jasmine, Jerry
