Following the chaos caused by the pandemic, sporting fans are eagerly awaiting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Coronavirus led to the 2020 Olympic Games being postponed to 2021, which saw the summer Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games finally going ahead.
As with the Tokyo Games, various Covid-19 countermeasures will be put in place ahead of the Winter Games. However, organisers have assured that preparations were "very much on track" for the Games to take place as scheduled in February.
By holding the Winter Olympics, Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games following its Olympic debut in 2008.
Here's everything you need to know about the Beijing Games including Covid restrictions in place, whether fans can attend and venues where the events will be held.
When are the Winter Olympics in Beijing?
The Winter Olympic Games will begin on February 4, 2022, with the opening ceremony. The closing ceremony will then take place on February 20, 2022. There will be close to 3,000 athletes competing in 15 disciplines across 109 events.
Due to ongoing political controversies with China, the US, Canada, Australia and the UK are among the countries to have announced diplomatic boycotts of the Winter Olympics.
This means that while athletes from these countries will still be able to compete in Beijing, no government officials will be in attendance.
After the Olympics, Beijing will then also host the Paralympic Games, which will run from March 4 to March 13, 2022.
How will Covid affect the Winter Olympics?
Organisers intend to hold the Beijing 2022 in a closed-loop system that can be accessed only by the Games participants.
This system, as outlined in the Games playbook published in December, includes venues, official hotels and the event's own transport service.
All fully vaccinated participants will be able to enter the closed loop without quarantining, and those who aren't vaccinated will need to quarantine for 21 days upon arrival in Beijing.
While there may be medical exemptions considered for some people who are unvaccinated, certain countries like US and Canada have mandated that all team members be vaccinated.
Participants will also be subject to daily health monitoring and testing and will have no contact with the general public. If anyone has a confirmed positive test, participants cannot compete or continue their role in the Games.
Those with symptoms will be asked to stay at a designated hospital while those who are asymptomatic will be transferred to an isolation facility.
Which venues will host the Winter Olympics?
Chinese capital Beijing is the official host city of the Winter Olympic Games 2022. However, the event is also spread across venues in other areas including Yanqing, the mountainous district 75km northwest of Beijing, and skiing and snowboarding destination Zhangjiakou, which is a further 100km beyond Yanqing.
All three zones are connected by a newly built intercity railway, but also boast their own Olympic Village.
There are 13 venues in total hosting events. Of them, the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing is newly built. The Beijing National Stadium, commonly referred to as The Bird's Nest, will be hosting the opening and closing ceremonies.
Can fans attend the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing?
Tickets for the Winter Olympics will not be sold to the general public due to the pandemic, but they will be distributed by authorities.
The Beijing Winter Olympics Organising Committee announced: "In terms of the grim and complex situation of epidemic prevention and control [and] in order to protect the health and safety of Olympic personnel and spectators, we have decided to change the original plan of public ticket sales."
Audiences will be required to comply with Covid-19 guidelines before, during and after watching the Games. This change to ticket sales came after Beijing reported its first case of the highly transmissible Omicron variant on January 15.
Who are the Olympic and Paralympic mascots?
The mascot for the Winter Olympics is a panda dressed in a full-body "shell" made out of ice called Bing Dwen Dwen. Bing means 'ice' in Mandarin Chinese and Dwen Dwen means 'child'.
The mascot, which celebrates China's national animal, was chosen from over 5,800 submissions from around the world.
Shuey Rhon Rhon is the mascot for the Paralympics. According to the Paralympic website, Shuey has the same Chinese character as that of 'snow', the first Rhon means 'to include, to tolerate', while the second means 'to melt, fuse and warm'.
Will North Korea attend the Winter Olympics?
North Korea announced that it will not be sending athletes to Beijing.
According to state-run news agency KCNA, a letter sent from North Korea's Olympic Committee and Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports to its Chinese counterpart cited "hostile forces" and the pandemic as the reasons for its non-participation.
The letter also reportedly accused United States and its allies of trying to prevent the successful opening of the Olympics, adding that they were "evermore undisguised in their moves against China aimed at preventing the successful opening of the Olympics".
Last year, the International Olympics Committee suspended the North Korean Olympic Committee until the end of 2022 as part of its punishment for its "unilateral decision" to drop out of the Tokyo Olympics, thus barring the country from formally competing in Beijing.
