Peking University, February 4, 2022: As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games draw near, International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach visited the Olympic Family Assistants (OFA) office at the China National Convention Center (CNCC) on 30 January noon. Bach highly praised and expressed his gratitude to the Peking University OFA volunteers for their contribution to ensure that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games could be successfully held. Bach sent the volunteers Chinese New Year blessings for the Year of the Tiger, "Like a tiger, to be full of fight, full of strength, full of courage and full of joy."


After Bach and his team entered the OFA office, Yang Li – the project manager of the Beijing Winter Olympic OFA Program Team, introduced the situation of OFA. A total of 89 PKU OFA volunteers are distributed to CNCC and V-Continent Parkview. They have completed multiple stages of training for their volunteer positions and are officially on duty. Bach watched the video of the volunteers pre-training and scouting, and commended the volunteers for their ardor, seriousness and meticulous attitude.


Guided by the ushers, Bach then went on to the display area. The display area was decorated with hand banners and surrounded by cultural and creative products from the five universities participating in OFA's work. Qu Wenxin – a PKU Winter Olympics volunteer and M.A. Philosophy student for the Class of 2020 – showed Bach the Spring Festival couplets written by fellow volunteers and introduced the meaning of the couplets. Bach learned the Chinese pronunciation of ‘Together for a Shared Future’ from her. Bach also said, "You should be proud of the work you are doing and learn the meaning of 'Together for a Shared Future' from it."


Bach then went to the photo wall to see the photos of each OFA and had a cordial exchange with the OFAs present. He said that the opening ceremony of this year's Winter Olympics will be very exciting and the students will have an unforgettable experience. Each Winter Olympics volunteer is selected from more than one million applicants, and the work may be tough at times, but the experience is worth enjoying and feeling proud of.


Thereafter, Bach gave a presentation to the volunteers. He pointed out that OFA's work involves directly communicating with the participants of the Olympic Games and is crucial to the success of the Games. “Through you, people will be able to communicate with each other. Through your eyes, people will feel smiles. Through your attitude, they will feel the hospitality of the Chinese. Through your work, they will experience the efficiency and dynamism of China.” Bach places special emphasis on ‘unity’ on coming together and showing that we have more in common with each other than with our differences, and that is what the Olympics is all about. For the volunteers, it is not only about unity within the OFA family, but also about uniting with people across the globe to create the atmosphere of the Olympic spirit.

After his speech, Zhou Na a Winter Olympics volunteer and a PhD student of PKU School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences – presented Bach with a portrait sketch that was created for him on site. Bach expressed his gratitude and praised Zhou for her talent.


At the end, Bach held up the banner ‘Together for a Shared Future’ and took a group photo with the volunteers.


At this Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, PKU has a total of 630 volunteers, 57 Winter Olympic Games interns, 15 opening ceremony performers, and 902 medical support staff from 8 PKU Beijing hospitals participating in volunteer work. More than 1,600 PKU students and faculty members are working together to ensure the Winter Olympics service, which is the largest delegation among the Beijing universities.



Written by: Vissly Chan Shun Ling
Edited by: June Tan Rui Min
Source: PKU News (Chinese)