Big questions less than 200 days to Winter Games

The focus shifts to Beijing as the curtain falls on Tokyo, with a growing coronavirus outbreak in China and boycott calls looming large six months from the Winter Games.

The Beijing 2022 Olympics are scheduled to take place from February 4 to 20.

The Games will be spread over three main zones - Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou about 180 kilometers northwest of the capital.

But as Beijing 2022 swings into view China faces its largest virus outbreak in months.

Another headache are calls for an Olympic boycott over China's rights record, especially the fate of Muslim minorities.

On Covid, which emerged near the end of 2019, China already had some of the world's strictest containment measures, though it is unclear what Olympic participants will face. Bo Li, assistant professor of sports management at Miami University in Ohio, said organizers should take a cue from Tokyo in handling the virus threat.

The International Olympic Committee and local organizers insisted on testing everyone involved before and during the Games and keeping athletes away from the public.

Spectators were also barred from most events.

Mark Dreyer, who runs the China Sports Insider website, noted that many questions remain unanswered about the Winter Games even with less than 200 days to go. "Ticketing plans haven't been released. And do we know about spectators? It's looking likely there are not going be international spectators allowed, but what about domestic spectators?"