Thomas Bach Says Controversial Beijing Olympics "Will Change Winter Sports"

The Beijing Olympics will "change the scale of winter sports forever", IOC president Thomas Bach said Thursday, on the eve of a Games beset by concerns about human rights and Covid. China's ruling Communist Party hopes the Olympics will be a soft-power success but they have been overshadowed by diplomatic boycotts, fears for tennis player Peng Shuai's safety, warnings about surveillance and the environmental impact. The Games, which launch with an opening ceremony on Friday at Beijing's "Bird's Nest" stadium and last until February 20, are taking place in one of the driest regions of China and rely almost entirely on man-made snow.

American snowboarder Jamie Anderson, a reigning two-time Olympic champion, said on Wednesday she had been scared trying out the slopestyle course and its artificially made surface, calling it "bulletproof ice."

China has little tradition of winter sports but has consistently said that staging the Olympics will help inspire 300 million people in the world's most populous nation to "engage" in ski and ice pursuits.

Bach said that goal had already been exceeded.

"Today we can say: China is a winter sport country," he told an International Olympic Committee meeting in the capital.

"Everything is in place for a safe and successful Winter Olympics," Bach added.

Covid in bubble

China and the IOC hope that the rancour that has clouded the build-up will be relegated to the sidelines once the action gets under way.

The sport started on Wednesday with curling and there was a smattering of masked fans at the so-called "Ice Cube", the striking venue known as the "Water Cube" when Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games, which was seen then as China's coming-out party on the world stage.

Women's hockey is also