Winter Olympics 2022 – Opening ceremony, mascot, events, participating nations, tickets – A complete preview guidebook

The 2022 Winter Olympics start in less than two weeks.

Around 3,000 athletes from 90 Olympic nations are expected to participate in the quadrennial event.

The mega-event will take place between February 4-20 in Beijing, China, which also hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008.

On that note, let us take a look at everything you want to know about the 2022 Winter Olympics!

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place on February 4 (11.30 am GMT).

Flag hoisting, inauguration speeches and athlete parades will be some of the highlights of the opening ceremony.

The closing ceremony will be held on February 20.

The mascot for the XXIV Winter Olympics is Bing Dwen Dwen, a wide-eyed panda in a suit of ice.

Bing means ice and symbolises purity and strength.

Events

A record 109 events will be held at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

These events will be held across 15 disciplines in seven different sports.

Men’s and women’s big air freestyle, ski jumping and snowboard cross along with four other sporting categories have been added to the final list.

Participating nations

Much of the talk before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has been about several countries unwilling to participate.

China’s humanitarian issues and COVID-19 concerns have seen several nations back out, with the United States and Japan being the big-ticket names on that list.

However, nations such as Haiti and Saudi Arabia will make their debut in the XXIV Winter Olympics in Beijing.

COVID-19 concerns

In order to comply with the maximum safety and welfare of everyone concerned, tickets will be only sold to people from the Chinese mainland.

Read Next: WTA suspends all tennis tournaments in China amidst concerns over Peng Shuai – Why it can affect all future tennis tournaments.