IOC chief praises Beijing preparations

published: 2017-09-02 10:58:17(26 Aug 2017) International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach highly praised Beijing’s preparations for the Winter Olympic Games of 2022, after a review of the city’s facilities on Saturday. Bach also visited the headquarters of the organising committee of the 2022 winter games, which is being built in a disused steel plant in the capital city. Bach also said he sees “no reason for any immediate concern” about tensions on the Korean Peninsula affecting next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He told The Associated Press that the IOC was monitoring developments but was buoyed by the support of governments and national Olympic committees. Security challenges posed by the escalating tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are expected to be assessed at an IOC meeting in Lima, Peru in September. The session will come five months before the Winter Games are staged 80 kilometres (50 miles) across the border from North Korea.

On Friday Bach visited China’s Alibaba Group, the official “Cloud Services” and “E-Commerce Platform Services” partner of the IOC. He will attend the opening of the quadrennial National Games on Sunday.