Olympic Villages welcome first batch of athletes, personnel

The Olympic Villages of Beijing Winter Olympic Games on Sunday welcomed the first batch of athletes and officials. The members of delegations from more than 20 countries have already moved into the Olympic Villages.

According to the Organizing Committee, Sunday to Wednesday is the pre-opening phase of the Olympic Villages, where the main residents are the advance staff providing logistics and services.

After moving in, these staff will hold a registration meeting with the Village operation team to confirm the eligibility of the delegation athletes, the number of delegation registrations, access rights, and to prepare for the athletes and other delegation members to enter the three competition zones.

This procedure is designed to reduce the formalities and procedures for athletes from different countries to move into the Olympic Villages by enabling them to move directly into the Olympic Villages and prepare for competition after the official opening of the Villages on January 27.