On February 4, 2022, the Olympic flame will light up the cauldron on the National Stadium of Beijing, host city of the 24th Winter Olympic Games. In line with this, ATN is excited to announce it has secured the rights to broadcast this year’s games on Ariana Television.

Both opening and closing ceremonies will also be broadcast live. The games will run for just over two weeks – from February 4 to 20.

However, some preliminary events will be held in the days before the official start. In all, there will be 19 days of competition across 15 sports.

ATN has also secured the rights to broadcast this year’s Paralympics, which will also take place in Beijing from March 4 to 13.

The International Olympic Committee and Olympic organizers in Beijing have meanwhile gone out of their way to emphasize that the games will go on as planned despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The protocols will be similar to those last year for the Summer Olympics. ATN also had the exclusive rights to broadcast last year’s summer games, which were aired on both Ariana Television and Ariana News.

Organizers are meanwhile creating what they’re calling a “closed-loop system” — also known as a bubble — in which thousands of athletes, coaches, team officials, Olympic staff members, contractors, volunteers and journalists will be confined for the duration of the games.

The bubble will include competition sites, hotels and other lodging for athletes, media facilities and a transportation network. No one else goes in; no one comes out.

Everyone at the Olympics will be required to be vaccinated and once there, everyone will be tested every day.

There are fewer sporting disciplines than in the Summer Olympics. The Winter Games include Alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsled, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding and speedskating.

Beijing meanwhile is set to become the first city in the world to have hosted both the summer and winter editions of the Olympic Games.

ATN will broadcast the opening ceremony on Tuesday 4 February from 4pm. This will be broadcast live.

On Wednesday, 5 February, ATN will broadcast curling, ice hockey, snowboarding and ski jumping, cross-country skiing and biathlon events – from 10:05am to 3pm. From 3.30pm, ATN will broadcast short track, freestyle skiing and speed skating.

Most sporting disciplines will be broadcast live.

*ArianaNews.af will however publish the full schedule closer to the opening ceremony.