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Feb. 2, 2022 — The over-arching stories of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Later this week, a controversial Winter Olympics will begin. The territorial designation for these games is Beijing, but, interestingly enough, the city itself is colder than it usually is this time of year. And like the 2016 Olympics in Sochi, a lot of the venues are a good distance away from the city, but the hub of activity will be in the city.
We’re going to see an awful lot of interesting stories over the next 16 days. Here’s what we think will be at the heart of them:
COVID, COVID, COVID. The Severe Acute Respiratory System (SARS) virus is known to have first shown up in China in 2002. The COVID-19 variant has had the world on edge since early 2020, and has already affected a number of competitions. Too, there will be no presence by U.S. broadcasters in the country during this cycle, which is usually good for Chamber of Commerce points for the host nation.
The withdrawal of athletes. A number of countries have been forced to pull athletes from their Olympic rosters because of COVID positives. Still others have tested positive upon their entry into Beijing. And this, despite zero-tolerance measures put in place by the Chinese government over the past couple of years.
The rise of Asia. These Olympics are going to be the third consecutive Olympics on the Asian continent, following the games of PyeongChang and Tokyo. It was thought that this Asian phase of Olympic history would showcase technological and other progress, but the lasting thoughts are likely to be of empty stadiums, testing stations, and workers wearing masks and other protective gear.
Will the saber-rattling between Russia and Ukraine continue? Not so you’d notice, but there is a potential war at hand between The Ukraine and a number of Russian-backed separatist areas. It’s gotten to the point where there there was a tense meeting Monday at the U.S. Security Council about the situation. It used to be that the Olympics would stop wars between nations. I’m not sure about what is going to happen this time.
Will the saber-rattling betting the Russian Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee continue? I find it interesting that the Russian central government has been trying to use military power at this point in time when it comes to Ukraine, as it serves as a distraction from what is going on within the Olympics. If you’ll notice, individual and teams with Russian residency aren’t playing for the country of Russia, but are instead competing under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee. That’s because of repeated and flagrant violations of anti-doping regulations that led to a multi-year ban from participation in numerous athletic competitions, which will include a ban from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar later this year.
Will the IOC’s overweening demands result in an embarrassing choice for the next Winter Games? Ever want to get lost in a book of non-sensical sports jargon? You can either read the NCAA rulebook, or you can read the IOC instruction manual for bid cities. The rules are often so cloying and bureaucratic, many potential bid cities drop out before even trying to put together a proposal. This happened a few years ago with Norway, which expressed frustration at the bid process and withdrew. It was an absolute embarrassment to the IOC, seeing as Norway is one of the major television markets for winter sports, especially speed skating and skiing.
Who will be the Walter Mitty of these games? Let me give you a name: Anni Keisala. She’s the starting goalie for the Finland women’s national team, and she’s the controversial replacement for four-time Olympican Noora Raty. Operating between the defense of Jenni Hiirikoski and Minttu Tuominen, she was voted the best goalie of the last IIHF World Championship. Finland is often thought of as the best team in the “Rest of the World” outside of the duopoly of the United States and Canada. I think they have a chance at one of the first two spots.
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