The International Olympic Committee has ruled out postponing the Beijing Winter Olympics under any circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The emergence of the Omicron variant has raised concern globally, both in terms of its apparent transmissibility and over its ability to evade immunity from a previous Covid infection.
The emergence of the virus in Wuhan ultimately led to the Tokyo 2020 summer Games being delayed by 12 months.
However, the head of the IOC's Beijing co-ordination commission, Juan Antonio Samaranch, said there was no chance of that being repeated and that the Games would go ahead as planned in February next year.
Asked if there were any circumstances in which the Games could be postponed, Samaranch said: "The answer is no. In all walks of life we have learned for the last two years in a Covid world you have to be flexible and adapt rapidly to changing conditions.
"We have that in Beijing. We have done all the rehearsals, all the possible situations, they have prepared for any possible contingency."
