Kazakhstan will spend about 228 million tenge (US$525,346) on the Beijing Olympics. However, this amount is still subject to adjustment, Andrey Kryukov, Secretary General of the Kazakh National Olympic Committee, announced at the press briefing. Kazakhstan’s national team will consist of 34 athletes vying to bring home medals. Most of the licenses have been won by skiers. They are now training hard and are accommodated in quarantine zones in order to avoid COVID infection.
“Currently, all athletes are undergoing the final stage of training in quarantine zones. Two of them are in Kazakhstan and the third one is located abroad. Short track and speed skating teams train at the Alau Ice Palace, while athletes in freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, alpine skiing and ski jumping live and train in Almaty. At the moment, the base for freestyle mogul skiers is Shymbulak,” said Andrey Kryukov, Secretary General, National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Beijing continues preparations for the Winter Olympics. A full dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the games with the participation of almost 4,000 people was held in the Chinese capital. An exciting one-and-a-half-hour show awaits the audience. It was directed by the famous Zhang Yimou, whose talent has already won the hearts of many at the 2008 Olympics.
“We did not involve professional troupes or other actors for the ceremony. There has never been such a line-up at the previous Olympics. I think that each participant will remember the preparation for this opening ceremony for the rest of their lives,” said Wang Jun, Head, Opening and Closing Ceremonies department, Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee.
The opening ceremony itself is scheduled for February 4, but two days before the event, another equally spectacular show, the Olympic torch relay, awaits the audience. 1,200 torchbearers will take part in it. The organizers will also use self-driving cars and even amphibious robots to deliver the Olympic flame underwater in the Beijing Winter Olympic Park near the Yongding River.
Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova
Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova
