Editor's note: The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will kick off on February 4, 2022, making Beijing the world’s first dual Olympic city. As the second Olympics held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, how is China preparing for the international event? What are people from different countries looking forward to in the Games? GDToday will present you "Internet Celebrities on Beijing 2022" in the coming days.

"I expect to see a lot of unity, fireworks, new technologies and the history about Winter Olympic Games and about China in the forthcoming opening ceremony," said Fernando Muñoz Bernal with excitement in a recent interview with GDToday. He is a Youtuber (31.6K followers) from Colombia now based in Dongguan, a city of South China's Guangdong.

Fernando was making videos before one of the Winter Olympics venues in December of 2020. 

Well infrastructures make the first dual Olympic city

As a big sports lover, Fernando tried ice skating and snow boarding himself before and keeps a close eye on every sports event around him. “Unfortunately, I didn’t go to Beijing Summer Olympic Games in 2008 because the tickets were so hard to get, but I was invited to go to the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and it was one of the most exhilarating experiences. In the upcoming Winter Games, I will follow up figure skating, speed skating and ski jumping, which are the most interesting competitions for me,” said Fernando, looking forward to seeing Colombian athletes to represent the best of their country and enjoy their experience in Beijing.

Speaking of why Beijing enjoys the honor to be the world's first dual Olympic city, Fernando commented, “One reason is that the infrastructure here is unbelievable. Beijing is an international city with all the motivations to deliver top-quality stadiums. So, some of the venues in 2008 Summer Games will be reused in this Winter Games, showing the world that it is possible to have venues for multiple events, which is cost-saving. Another reason is that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) very likely understands that the people in Asia and China need more attention from now on.”

On December 6, Washington announced a ‘diplomatic boycott’ of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. In subsequent days, a few of its allies followed suit.

US’s human right accusation is proofless and hypocritical

Led by the US, the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games was declared by some countries out of the so-called human right violations. In Fernando’s eyes, their accusations lack irrefutable proof and instead are based on information from those with ulterior motives, while there exists substantial evidence on those countries’ human rights abuses, particularly in forms of bombing, attacking and invading.

“When some countries are talking about human rights, they should first start by looking in the mirror. How could you accuse China of human rights abuses while it has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty in the last few decades?” Fernando raised his voice. What China has done in poverty alleviation is the most remarkable human rights achievement in human history, he added.

Fernando highlighted that the Ping Pong Diplomacy in the 1970s, in fact, helped to bring down barriers and promote understanding between China and the US. “That's the spirit of sports and international competition. That's what we would like to see, especially in the world today,” he said.

Fernando was making videos in Xinjiang to represent the world what a real Xinjiang looks like.

Politicalizing Olympics is unfair to athletes

Fernando expressed his repugnance at politicizing Olympics and strongly advocated a pure sports arena without political interference, “The diplomatic snub to Winter Olympic Games is a very sad thing. Sports are sports. Athletes have prepared for years, day in, day out, with enormous costs--financial sacrifices, family, time, injuries, tears and sweat. All they want is to compete and represent their countries to show what their bodies are able to do at their best. Now those politicians are just trying to pollute this mega event into murky water. This is really unfair to these athletes.”