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27 Jan 2022
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are right around the corner, just a few months after the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo finally took place in the summer of 2021. This Winter Olympics will span 16 days, starting with the opening ceremonies on February 4th, ending with the closing ceremonies on February 20th. Beijing will also become the first city to ever host both the Summer and Winter Games, after originally hosting the Summer Olympics in 2008. However, this Olympics will look much different than the games that took place 14 years ago – and not solely based on the difference in seasons.
Attendance for the Beijing Winter Olympics will be severely limited due to COVID-19. The Chinese government initially announced that only residents of the host country would be able to attend the games in person; however, ticket sales were recently cancelled, and spectators will now be admitted via invitation only. Athletes and journalists will also need to stay within the Olympic bubble to help prevent any potential outbreak and the cancellation of events.
The Olympic bubble itself spans multiple venues inside and outside Beijing. Seven venues from the 2008 Summer Olympics will be repurposed for the Winter games, including the iconic National Stadium, nicknamed “The Bird’s Nest” because of its unique façade. One of the new venues within the Beijing city limits is the recently constructed National Speed Skating Oval. The new speed skating venue has been deemed the “Ice Ribbon” due to the dynamic ribbons of programmable lights on the outside of the building. Additionally, events including alpine skiing, bobsled, skeleton, and luge will take place outside Beijing in the cities of Zhangshanying and Zhangjiakou. A new railway system was constructed to service spectators and media traveling from Beijing to the alpine events. The new train has cut the journey down from over three hours to just 50 minutes, making it much easier for patrons to get around.
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics feature 109 medal events, including the debut of seven new events: men’s and women’s big air freestyle, women’s monobob, mixed team freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, snowboard cross, and mixed team short track relay (in speed skating). Overall, there will be almost 3,000 athletes from over 90 countries. Some athletes and events to keep your eye on include American Mikaela Shiffrin in Alpine Skiing, Japanese figure skater Hanyu Yuzuru, Dutch speed skater Suzanne Schulting, and Chloe Kim, the young American snowboarder. The Canadian teams for both men’s and women’s hockey are the favorites to take gold.
To catch all the action, you’ll need to tune into NBC, NBC Sports, USA Network or the Olympic Channel. Replays will also be shown daily on Peacock. There is a 13-hour time difference from Beijing to Eastern Standard Time, so many of the events will take place at unusual times for U.S. households and replayed live during primetime. For example, the opening ceremony begins at 6:30 a.m. EST on February 4th, but it will also be broadcast on NBC later that evening at 8 p.m. EST. The Chinese Olympic organizers have promised a “different and unique” opening that showcases over 3,000 performers, so it’s sure to be something you don’t want to miss.