Winter Games will be here before you know it
Chen, Shiffrin top US contingent
Less than six months after the Tokyo Olympics finished, the Beijing Olympics will begin Feb. 4, 2022. Unlike the Tokyo Summer Games, which were delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic, the Winter Olympics will start on time.
Beijing is hosting an Olympics for the second time in 14 years, having also put on the 2008 Summer Olympics. While these Games will be centered in the same area of Beijing as the 2008 Olympics, the mountain events are in the resorts of Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
Here is what you need to know about the 2022 Beijing Games.
When are the Beijing Winter Olympics?
The Olympics start with the Opening Ceremonies on Feb. 4 and run through the Closing Ceremonies on Feb. 20. Several events — including preliminary rounds of hockey, curling and freestyle skiing, as well as some ice dancing competitions — will take place in the days or hours before the Opening Ceremonies.
How can I watch the Winter Olympics? Coverage will begin each night at 6 p.m. MT on NBC, and events will be streamed live on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and USA. Beijing is 15 hours ahead of the United States’ Mountain time zone.
When are some of the most popular events? Figure skating runs most days of the Beijing Games with medals awarded Feb. 9 for the men, Feb. 17 for the women and Feb. 19 for pairs.
The men’s gold medal hockey game will be Feb. 20, and the women’s gold medal game is Feb. 17.
Snowboarding halfpipe medals are awarded on consecutive days, with the women’s event Feb. 9 and the men’s Feb. 10.
How will the Super Bowl impact the Olympics? For the first time, the Super Bowl will be played during the Olympics. Because of time differences, kickoff will be just after sunrise Monday, Feb. 14, in China. It could run up against some preliminary competitions that morning but probably won’t affect any medal events.
What are the new events at these Olympics? The Olympics have added mixed-gender competitions in freestyle skiing aerials, snowboard cross and ski jumping, as well as a mixed relay in speedskating. Big air freestyle skiing also will be in these Games as well as the women’s one-person bobsled called the monobob.
Will spectators be allowed at the Beijing Olympics? Unlike the Tokyo Summer Games, there will be fans at several events, but only residents of mainland China will be allowed to buy tickets.
Who are top U.S. athletes to watch? Since a disappointing 2018 Winter Games, Nathan Chen has been the world’s top male figure skater, winning gold at all three of the world championships since then. In fact, his third-place finish in October’s Skate America broke a 14-event streak of gold medals for him.
The 22-year-old Chen placed fifth at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea and has appeared determined to medal and perhaps win gold at this Olympics.
Mikaela Shiffrin has won gold medals at her previous two Olympics (the slalom in 2014 and giant slalom in 2018). Now 26, she could win three medals in Beijing. She won four season world titles in 2019 and began this fall’s racing season first in the giant slalom.
She is the face of American skiing and could be the face of the entire U.S. team at these Olympics. Poised to become one of the most decorated Olympic skiers ever, she is coping with the loss of her father, Jeff, who died in 2020 following an accident at his home.
In 2018, Chloe Kim became the youngest woman to win a snowboarding gold medal by taking the halfpipe at just 17. She has won six X Games gold medals, including three in the past four years.
After her success in Pyeong-Chang, Kim became a celebrity with her own Barbie doll, cereal box cover, Nike commercial and a 2020 appearance on the “Masked Singer.”
In 2018 Jessie Diggins won a frantic race at the end of the crosscountry team sprint to give the United States its first gold medal in the event. Her teammate, Kikkan Randall, shared the gold with her. Now, at 30, she seems to be hitting her peak.
In the past year, she also has become the first American to win the Tour de Ski multistage event as well as the first American to win the overall World Cup.
Jamie Anderson has won the only two women’s snowboard slopestyle gold medals in Olympic history, taking the medal at the 2014 and 2018 Games. She’s also the only woman to win more than one snowboarding Olympic gold.
Her dominance continued with gold medals in slopestyle and big air at last winter’s X Games. She has won more X Games medals than any other woman with eight golds, seven silvers and four bronzes.
Will the Beijing Olympics have a bubble? Yes. The Beijing Games will operate in what organizers call a “closed loop” in which everyone involved in the Olympics, from IOC officials to athletes to volunteers to workers at official hotels will be unable to leave a network of official venues once they’ve entered. Anyone arriving from abroad will go into the closed loop upon arrival at the airport, riding designated buses and trains from hotels or villages to their events.
Do athletes have to be vaccinated? Anyone entering the Beijing Olympic bubble will have to be fully vaccinated or will not be allowed into the country. Olympic organizers will permit medical exemptions for athletes, but those athletes must quarantine for 21 days before being allowed into the closed loop.
Will athletes be tested for the coronavirus? Yes. Beijing will give daily tests to everyone inside the Olympic bubble.
Is there any threat of a boycott? Critics of China’s human-rights record with regard to the treatment of the country’s Uyghur population have been calling for countries and corporate sponsors to boycott these Olympics. President Biden has said his administration is “considering” a diplomatic boycott, a move that would allow U.S. athletes to compete but keep government officials from attending the Games.
A recent episode involving Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has brought fresh scrutiny to the issue. Concerns about Peng, a three-time Olympian and a Grand Slam doubles champion, rose after a nearly three-week public absence followed a Nov. 2 social media post in which she accused former vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her. Peng, 35, has been seen publicly only once since her post, which vanished within hours of its publication.
The International Olympic Committee has faced criticism from human-rights advocates and others for not responding more forcefully, particularly after the Women’s Tennis Association suspended its tournaments in China and Hong Kong out of concern for Peng. IOC leaders have said they have had multiple calls with Peng that have assured them of her safety.