With China under lockdown for the first quarter of 2020 and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games being postponed until 2021, questions have been raised on how the current global pandemic has affected construction for Beijing 2022.
With the overall reconstruction of the Ice Cube (National Aquatics Centre) in Beijing, China, beginning in late 2018, the majority of construction happened throughout 2019.
After the China Junior Open was successfully held in December 2019 as an initial test event, the venue entered into a new phase of construction. Currently the installation of the ice making system, the renovation of the air conditioning system, dehumidification system and the athlete change rooms are completed.
“At present, we are trying to move forward on the construction of container changing rooms, permanent accessible facilities, LED screen, venue sound amplifying system, flag raising system, computer network, integrated wiring, cable TV, energy management system, and IT operations management platform,” said Beijing 2022 Curling Program Director, Bingyu Wang.
In addition, The South Square Ice Sports Centre is under construction which will provide the public with real ice sports experiences during the Games.
Curling at the Olympic Winter Games will take place from 3-20 February 2022, with ten women’s, ten men’s and ten mixed doubles teams competing.
Due to COVID-19 and the cancelations of the World Women’s Curling Championship 2020, LGT World Men’s Curling Championship 2020 and World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2020, the Olympic Qualification process has been updated.
The World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2020 was not canceled and the Paralympic Qualification remains the same.
Engage with the World Curling Federation in the lead up to the Games on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Weibo and by searching the hashtag #curling #Roadto2022
