Even before the end of the Olympics, China was already celebrating its victory. In many ways, this XXIVe Winter Olympics is an undeniable success for the Chinese regime. “These are very successful Games (…) It is obvious that the athletes are more than happy”, affirmed, Friday, February 18 Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). These games were “really amazing” he insisted two days later, during the closing ceremony, just after handing over the Olympic flag to the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy), which will host the XXVe edition, in 2026.
A success on the health plan first. Many had predicted that the zero Covid policy that China continues to apply would not withstand the arrival of 13,524 visitors from abroad. Wrongly. The health bubble, put in place around the Games, and the protective measures inside it worked.
Despite the detection of 432 positive cases – cumulatively – in the bubble on February 14, ten days after the opening of the Games, there was no cluster. The number of new cases subsided – even disappearing on some days – as arrivals from abroad dwindled.
Above all, the virus has not spread to Beijing or the rest of the country. The price to pay is known: a very rigorous policy of tracing and isolation and the Games which were held in front of around 100,000 spectators (duly tested) only, ten times less than in South Korea, four years earlier. .
Third in the medal table
Still, the Games have been popular in China. In this country where winter sports remain, whatever the authorities say, a marginal activity, it was not a foregone conclusion. But as Chinese athletes climbed the podium – in total China won 15 medals, including nine gold – the country marveled at the exploits of skier Eileen Gu, snowboarder Su Yiming or of the skating couple Sui Wenjing and Han Cong. Online sales of skiwear and winter sports equipment have exploded and shops selling the Games mascot (the panda Bing Dwen Dwen) have been taken over.
The good technical progress of these Games, the performance of their athletes – in the medal table, China ranks third, just ahead of the United States – and the unanimously celebrated kindness of the thousands of young volunteers are all reasons for pride for the Chinese.
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