IOC member hails Beijing Winter Olympics as 'very successful'

ULAN BATOR -- Batbold Battushig, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and first deputy president of the Mongolian National Olympic Committee, on Thursday praised China for very successfully organizing the recent Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

"We returned home from the Beijing Winter Olympics very satisfied. In this time of the pandemic, it is difficult to successfully host an Olympic Games inside the closed loop," Battushig told Xinhua in an interview.

Battushig said that the organizing committee of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, the Chinese Olympic Committee and all relevant personnel worked hard to make the Olympics a success.

Participating in an Olympic Games is a great achievement for an athlete, he said, adding that two Mongolian skiers participated in the Winter Olympic Games and improved their personal records.

"So I think this Olympics was very successful, both for Mongolia and for the Winter Olympics."

Thanks to the Beijing Winter Olympics, more than 300 million people have so far been engaged in winter sports in China alone, Battushig said, expressing his confidence that the achievement will become the basis for the future development of the world winter sports.

Battushig also expressed his confidence that across the world, winter sports will be more developed and the number of people interested in winter sports will increase.

"For example, Mongolia has a great opportunity to develop winter sports in terms of weather. The country has a winter season, and it snows here."

The IOC member also hailed the Beijing 2022 Winter Games as "the most gender-balanced" Winter Games in history, and saying that female athletes accounted for a record 45 percent of the total athletes of the Olympic Games.

In addition, he praised volunteers of the Beijing Winter Olympics for their excellent work.

Meanwhile, Beijing, which previously held the 2008 Summer Olympics, has become the first city in history to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, demonstrating to the world that single city can host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, he said. "One city hosting two Olympics is a historic event."

The Olympic Games are a major festival of unity and solidarity, Battushig said, echoing the IOC's stance that sports must be politically neutral.

Mongolia is expected to pay more attention to the development of winter sports in the coming years by providing athletes with the opportunity to train with athletes from other countries who are successful in winter sports, participating in various exchange programs, organizing competitions, and developing winter sports infrastructure with public and private sector support.

"During meetings of the Beijing Winter Olympics, relevant officials of China allowed our country to use the infrastructure of the Olympic Games in the future to train our athletes. I think this issue will be a reality soon," the official said.