From left, silver medalists team South Korea, gold medalists team Netherlands and bronze medalists team China celebrate during the medal ceremony for the women's 3000-meters short track speedskating relay at the 2022 Winter Olympics on February 14, 2022, in Beijing. Photo: VCG

The Beijing 2022 Olympics are the most gender-balanced Winter Olympic Games ever in history, demonstrating the strengths of "her story."

This year, more than 1,300 female athletes compete at the Beijing 2022, accounting for a record 45 percent of the athletes, marking a record number of female athletes competing at the Games.

From the first Winter Olympics in 1924 with only 11 female athletes, to the first female flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the third Winter Olympics, and from the first female athlete who took oath on behalf of all athletes at the seventh Winter Olympic Games, to now, when more than 1,300 female athletes are competing at the Beijing 2022, women are better represented at the Winter Games, Yan Jiarong, spokesperson for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympics, said at the daily press briefing on Monday.

"The nearly 100-year history of Winter Olympics is also the history of 'her story,'" Yan noted. 

At this Winter Olympics we see dazzling women including not only those who have participated in multiple Olympic Winter Games, but also young athletes born after 2000 competing for the first time. Their appearance makes the Games more shining and meaningful and solidifies women's role in holding up half the sky on the sports stage, Yan said.

The Beijing Winter Olympics have also reached a record number of women's events which has increased from 44 at the Pyeongchang Games to now 46. 

Yang Yang, chairperson of the Athletes' Commission of the BOCOG, said that among the 19 commission members, 14 are women, and a total of seven women participated in the management affairs of Beijing Winter Olympics. "In my commission I'm more worried about the right and interest of male members," Yang joked. 

Yang talked about the amazing performance of Eileen Gu and said she told her daughter to watch her competition. Female athletes have demonstrated not only their beauty in figure skating but also how cool they can be at the events that had given an opportunity for women to present themselves and become a better self. It is an opportunity for us to find out more about beauty and encourage women to push further their own limits, Yang said.

Asked if there are any concerns on younger athletes competing at the Olympic Games, IOC Presidential Spokesperson Mark Adams said each National Olympic Committees could apply for chaperones and athlete welfare officers at the Games, and the IOC also seeks to provide support for athletes.

The young age of athletes is a concern but we should not "take away the opportunity and joy that sport can bring to young people of any gender. It should be done in a safe and secure way," Mark said.

At the press conference, Yan also spoke highly of the female participation in journalism and volunteer work. Proportion of the female staff is no less than 40 percent and female volunteers are no less than 50 percent. Female staff are also being paid equally as their male counterparts. 

"Gender equality has always been one of the basic national polices of China which is included in the Constitution. In China, women hold up half the sky," Yan noted.