BEIJING 2022: A Beginner’s Guide to the Winter Olympics
I know it is impossible to believe that the lord is blessing us with yet another Olympics just a short 5.5 months after Tokyo 202(1), but Beijing is here, they had this date planned already and were not going to let Japan steal their thunder, and y’all we have SO MUCH TO COVER. Full disclosure up until about a week and a half ago Katrina and I thought they were supposed to take place later in February (in our defense, they’re normally in January, and also, the Super Bowl is late this year, so we’re thrown off okay!) but luckily we have crammed so much content surrounding the five rings and we are ready to share our wealth of knowledge. It's true that the Summer Olympics might seem more glamorous and exciting, and it’s true that Team USA traditionally does better in the warmer weather, but the Winter Olympics have a lot to offer! We are equal opportunity Olympic fans and we all need to throw our support behind this perfect organization with no flaws!!!!!!
Didn’t Beijing Just Host a Summer Olympics?
Wow I am so glad you asked! As someone who followed the bid process very closely, and perhaps too intensely, I was livid that the IOC picked Beijing, because this was shortly after Sochi, which you may remember is a TROPICAL LOCATION that hosted the 2014 Winter Games. Not to defend the IOC, but when it came to applicants for 2022, they didn’t have a ton of great choices, and potential hosts started dropping out pretty fast, leaving only China and Kazakhstan as contenders. This was before the IOC implemented their new sustainable bid process, which really changed the game (i.e. we’re not going to see as many empty former olympic stadiums in the future, and we will see a lot more combo city bids, like Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo 2026), and to be completely frank, in today’s day & age (you know, with the entire world melting and all), it’s kind of hard to find an icy snowy spot that can host a bunch of different sports that require many large facilities. I had no doubt in Kazakhstan’s ability to pull it off, but apparently the IOC thought they had too many human rights violations (and not enough money to make them ignore that), so Beijing won by a very slim margin of 4 votes.
Because, you know, China is really well known for their generous human rights policies. Since then, China said “sorry did you want MORE human rights violations?????” and started a near genocide of the Uyghur people (I look up how to spell that once a day) (there are multiple spellings), treating them as slaves, and silencing anyone who tried to expose these horrors.(FYI lots of fast fashion brands use Uyghur labor so check yourself). They’ve also consistently silenced opposition in other matters, as was the case with Hong Kong more recently, and I know you are not on this sports blog to learn about current events but this is IMPORTANT because with COVID (more on that in a second), China has been able to close the scope of the games and limit their media exposure to a very limited window and even more limited locations and so this is an Olympics with a VERY CONTROLLED NARRATIVE and we all should be conscious of that. Of course there is the matter of the US and Canada diplomatically “boycotting” these games by not sending any officials (sorry but I don’t care that I’m not going to see Kamala Harris at the speed skating rink), but that’s largely symbolic, as all the athletes will be there. Is it fair to put athletes at the center of this type of political drama? Maybe not, they’re just trying to compete on the biggest stage possible, and this is where that happens to be. But is it something that people with large platforms should be conscious of? Probably! Idk there’s no way to win here. Let us know your thoughts in comments!
What about the Pandemic?
Ah remember her? Not me I totally forgot because life is perfectly normal all the time now! Just kidding we still live in a dystopia and these Olympic games are no exception. While they definitely have a better handle on things than we did headed into Toyko 202(1), COVID is still a HUGE CONCERN around these games, especially because China is still applying their “zero tolerance” Covid policy. Athletes will be very limited in where they can go, they’ll be tested daily, and a positive test will mean the end of their Olympic journey (honestly I think Mikaela Shiffrin got it before the Olympics on purpose). Journalists from most major US news outlets, including the NBC team which covers the Olympics, will be broadcasting remotely.
How do I watch?
NBC’s reign of terror over Olympic Coverage continues, so you’ll have to tune in either there, or USA, or the Olympic Channel, or the NBC Sports App, or on Peacock (the cock). As always, we cannot recommend enough that you try to tune in to the events LIVE rather than sticking to the primetime coverage, because they do a lot of over editing and tend to skip some underrated sports. Of course the IOC hasn’t made that easy for any of us with a 13 hour time difference (AGAIN), but you all got some solid practice in over the summer with Tokyo, so suck it up and wake up early! And do not WORRY babes because, as always, we got your back and we will be posting a daily schedule of what you need to pay attention to and those can’t miss medal events. Rumor has it Elena will return to instagram for the occasion! Idk fam stay tuned!
Ok but is anything new even happening?
Again I am thrilled you asked! Not only will Beijing become the first city to host both the summer and the winter games, which is history right off the bat, but we’ve got 7 (seven!!!!) new sports to watch: The Monobob LOLOL, the skiing Big Air events, and mixed team events in short track, ski jumping, snowboard cross, and freestyle skiing aerials. But wait, there’s more!
The winter games tend to be a little bit less diverse than the summer games (because not everyone has a mountain to learn how to ski on, shockingly!), which is what set the stage for standout stories such as COOL RUNNINGS (perhaps the greatest film of all time). Denmark and Czech Republic will make their debuts at an Olympic Games in women’s ice hockey, it’s the he first time Australia have qualified for the Olympic curling competition, and most importantly! Richardson Viano, the first Winter Olympian from Haiti who has qualified for the men’s giant slalom competition. The 19-year-old will also become the first athlete from any Caribbean nation to compete in skiing at an Olympic Winter Games.
As for diversity in GENDER, this Winter Olympic Games will feature the highest number of women's events ever with the new events being added, and Gender balance will be reached in multiple sports including alpine and freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, individual luge, speed skating, skeleton and snowboard.
LASTLY as part of the whole “maybe we should make these games more sustainable” schtick, Beijing 2022 will be the first games to be powered by GREEN ENERGY. The even used like rainfall and mountain runoff to make the snow! (due to not having much natural snow, how hard is it to pick an actual cold place)
ARE YOU HYPE YET?
That’s our big Q for you dear readers! We understand that the Olympics, like most large scale events in the age of a pandemic, global warming, and the messed up late stage capitalism, are tough to love unconditionally. Like all of us, the Olympics are complex! That’s called depth sweetie! But you can still watch and enjoy these games, and now you can do so with a heightened consciousness thanks to us (unless this post just totally killed your buzz, in which case I think you need to examine your choices! Stop choosing ignorance!). As two gals who are 1) very unathletic but also 2) would be summer olympic athletes if we were talented at all, we have every excuse not to love the winter games, and yet we are HYPE to see what happens. The last time there was a winter games, I (Elena) was a senior in college in New Orleans and they fell during mardi gras, so I watched Chloe Kim win her first gold medal on my phone in the middle of a parade and made everyone around me chug their drinks because America won a gold medal. And yes I cried many times! Hard to top that, but I am sure Beijing will find a way. Make sure to read our guide to all the different kinds of sliding and all the athletes you need to know, and don’t forget to chug when we win gold!!
