2022 Olympics: Winter Games Dates, Logo, Location and Schedule

Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

When the Summer Olympics conclude, there’s typically an 18-month wait before the start of the Winter Games. This year, the time between the events will be much shorter.

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were postponed for a full year because of the coronavirus pandemic. And things will be wrapping up Sunday, when the closing ceremony is set to be held at Japan National Stadium.

But the 2022 Winter Olympics are still set for February. So when the Games begin Feb. 4 in Beijing, it will have been less than half a year since the end of the Summer Olympics.

Although the official start of the Beijing Games will be Feb. 4, which is when the opening ceremony will take place, some sports will begin prior to that. There will be curling Feb. 2, while freestyle skiing and ice hockey will get started Feb. 3.

The 2022 Olympics’ closing ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 20.

Beijing was announced as the host of the 2022 Winter Games in 2015, but the bidding was close. The city edged Almaty, Kazakhstan, by only four votes to get the opportunity to host these Olympics. Accordingly, Beijing will become as the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games. It hosted the Summer Games in 2008, the only other time the Olympics have been held in China.

Here is what the logo for the 2022 Winter Olympics looks like:

Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

The logo was designed by artist Lin Cunzhen, and according to Olympics.com, “The emblems combine traditional and modern elements of Chinese culture, as well as features embodying the passion and vitality of winter sports.”

There will be a record 109 events held in Beijing, including seven that will be making their Olympic debuts: women’s monobob, short track mixed team relay, ski jumping mixed team event, men’s freestyle skiing big air, women’s freestyle skiing big air, aerials mixed team event and snowboard cross mixed team event.

There will be a ton of great athletes and exciting events at the 2022 Games. One of the top names to keep an eye on from Team USA will be alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin. The 26-year-old is already a two-time gold medal winner, having won the slalom in 2014 and the giant slalom in 2018.

American snowboarder Shaun White will also be back competing at the Games. The three-time gold medalist will be competing in the halfpipe event, which he won in 2006, 2010 and 2018. He turns 35 in September, so this could be his last opportunity to capture another Olympic medal.