Organizers say preparations complete ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Organizers in Beijing said Tuesday all preparations are now complete ahead of the start of the Winter Olympic Games on Friday.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games held a news conference at the Beijing 2022 Main Media Center Tuesday, pledging that "China will deliver a simple, safe, and wonderful" edition of the Games, the China Global Television Network reported.

Many of the 2,900 athletes due to compete at the Games have already landed in Beijing or are about to arrive, according to the International Olympic Committee.

Those that have arrived have been familiarizing themselves with the 12 competition venues.

Hotels, medical care, and volunteer services in the three competition areas of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou are all running smoothly. Hydrogen-powered vehicles, 5G communications, cloud broadcasting, and robots have also been rolled out, the Global Times reported.

China remains determined to keep COVID-19 from disrupting the event, reacting to a recent outbreak in the city of Xi'an with its strictest lockdown measures since the earliest days of the pandemic.

Athletes in Beijing will compete inside a strict bubble as a way of guarding against an outbreak.

China is spending an estimated $3.9 billion to hold the Games, a fraction of the $43 billion it spent on the summer edition in 2008.

The Beijing Winter Olympics run through Feb. 20, while the Paralympic Games run from March 4-13.