北京冬季五輪 雪不足の地では不安が大きい

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Great anxiety as un-snowy Beijing picked to host ’22 Winter Olympics
北京冬季五輪　雪不足の地では不安が大きい

The International Olympic Committee has chosen Beijing as the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
　国際オリンピック委員会（ＩＯＣ）が、２０２２年冬季五輪の開催都市を北京に決めた。

It will be the first city in Olympic history to host both summer and winter Games since Beijing already hosted the 2008 Summer Games. We hope Beijing will expend all possible efforts in making perfect preparations.
　０８年の夏季五輪に続く史上初の夏冬開催だ。準備に万全を期してもらいたい。

Beijing won a one-to-one duel with Kazakhstan’s Almaty by stressing the stability of its financial resources supported by the Chinese government and a wealth of experience in organizing international athletic events.
　北京は、中国政府の支援を受けた安定した財源や、国際大会の豊富な運営経験などをアピールし、アルマトイ（カザフスタン）との一騎打ちを制した。

Hosting the Winter Olympics has a public approval rating of 92 percent in China. Chinese President Xi Jinping apparently intends to maintain his government’s leadership and boost the nation’s prestige by hosting an Olympiad again.
　冬季五輪開催に対する中国国民の支持率は、９２％に上っている。再度の五輪開催を勝ち取ることで、政権への求心力を維持し、国威発揚につなげようという習近平国家主席の意図は明白だろう。

Meanwhile, there are many worries about Beijing’s plan to host the Olympics. First, Beijing receives only light snow each winter. Competitions to be held within the city will mainly be skating events. Skiing and other events are planned to be held in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, located next to Beijing. However, Zhangjiakou has to rely on artificial snow that is inferior in quality to natural snow.
　一方で、北京の開催計画には不安が多い。そもそも、北京は降雪量が少ない。市内では主にスケート競技が行われる。スキー競技などは隣接する河北省張家口で実施する予定だが、ここでも雪質が劣る人工雪に頼らざるを得ない。

To make a huge amount of artificial snow, water from a reservoir will be used. Though the delegation from Beijing stressed at the IOC plenary meeting that it will hardly have an impact on the environment, some experts pointed out the possibility of negative effects on water resources.
　貯水池の水で大量の人工雪を作ることについて、北京の代表団は、ＩＯＣ総会で「環境には、ほとんど影響がない」と強調したが、水資源への悪影響が指摘される。

Many problems ahead

Also, deep concerns are expressed over Beijing’s air pollution.
　大気汚染への懸念も強い。

When it hosted the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the city decided to enforce heavy-handed traffic controls and to suspend operations of factories to show the world a blue sky.
　北京は０８年の五輪当時、青空を見せるために、強引な交通規制や工場の稼働停止に踏み切った。

Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun told IOC members this time that the city is working hard to be a clean-energy city. But, it remains a question how much the air pollution will be reduced in the next seven years.
　王安順・北京市長は今回、「クリーンエネルギー型都市へ邁進まいしんしている」と、ＩＯＣ委員に訴えた。あと７年で汚染がどこまで改善するのだろうか。

Though the city has various problems, the right to host the 2022 Games has rolled into Beijing because other promising cities, such as Oslo, pulled out of the bidding race one after another.
　様々な問題点を抱えながらも、オスロなどの有力都市が次々と招致レースから撤退したため、北京に開催権が転がり込んだ形だ。

A huge financial burden is the main reason why more and more cities are becoming hesitant to bid to host a Winter Olympics. Russia spent a huge amount of money, said to be ¥5 trillion, on the 2014 Sochi Olympics. This no doubt has made more cities back away from bidding to host a Winter Games.
　冬季五輪開催に尻込みする都市が増えている最大の要因は、重い財政負担だ。１４年ソチ五輪に、ロシアが５兆円と言われる巨費を投じたことが、敬遠ムードに拍車をかけたのは間違いない。

The costs of building a ski jump and courses for sledding events such as bobsledding for a Winter Games are huge. They are likely to be a negative legacy because fewer users are expected at them after the Olympics compared to venues for a Summer Games.
　冬季五輪では、スキーのジャンプ台やボブスレーといったそり競技のコース整備などに費用がかさむ。夏季五輪の競技場に比べ、五輪後の利用者は限られるため、負の遺産になりかねない。

But the Summer Games are also growing expensive. For instance, Boston decided to exit the bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
　夏季五輪についても、２４年の開催を目指していた米国のボストンが撤退した。

The IOC has naturally become concerned over the situation and launched an Olympic reform urging utilization of existing facilities to reduce financial burdens on host cities.
　ＩＯＣが危機感を持ち、開催都市の負担軽減のために、既存施設の活用などを促す五輪改革に乗り出したのは、必然の流れだ。

Asian cities are now set to host two Winter Olympic Games in a row, with Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018 and Beijing in 2022. Sapporo has already announced its bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics. If it is named an official candidate of Japan, Sapporo will need to make strategic bidding efforts.
　１８年冬季五輪は韓国の平昌、２２年は北京と、アジアでの開催が続くことになった。２６年五輪の招致には、札幌が名乗りを上げている。正式に国内候補地となれば、戦略的な招致活動が求められよう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 1, 2015)