Beijing Olympic progress 'great example of Chinese dynamism, determination'

Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, has returned to China (virtually) to mark a year before the start of the Beijing Winter Games 2022. 

The German former Olympic fencer, who took the reins at the Committee in 2013, said Beijing was making history as the first city to host both the summer (in 2008) and winter Games. But with a year to go before they start, Bach added the Beijing Games would be a fitting return to mass-participation and perhaps crowds after the pandemic. 

"Well, first of all, Beijing will write the history ... because it will be the first city ever to host both the winter and summer Games. This is already an achievement in itself," he told CGTN Europe. 

"China was giving a great example: on the one hand, successfully fighting against the virus; and on the other hand, realizing that sport and the Olympic Games are part of the solution for the recovery from the pandemic," Bach added.

Bach last visited Beijing in 2019. /Andrea Verdelli/Pool/AP