Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 preview show. Video / NZ Herald
The Winters Olympics are nearly here. Here's all you need to know about the Games.
When and where are they taking place?
Beijing and the neighbouring towns of Yanqing and Chongli play host after winning selection in 2015, edging out Kazakhstan's Almaty. Beijing becomes the first city to host both the winter and summer Olympics after the Chinese capital held the 2008 Olympics.
The opening ceremony is on February 4, although the curling and ice hockey events have already begun, with the closing ceremony to cap things off on February 20.
Christopher Plys, of the United States, throws a rock during the mixed doubles curling match against Australia at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Photo / AP
Beijing city will host the opening and closing ceremonies at the Beijing National Stadium aka the Bird's Nest, while arena-based sports curling, ice hockey, speed skating, short track speed skating and figure skating will all take place in the city. Along with the snowboarding and freestyle skiing Big Air events.
Illuminated Big Air Shougang, venue of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, is pictured at Shougang Park. Phoyo / Getty
The Xiaohaituo Mountain area, around 90km north west of central Beijing will host the luge, skeleton, bobsleigh and alpine skiing - with the aid of artificial snow.
All other skiing events along with snowboarding, biathlon and cross country will be held in the Taizicheng Area, 220km from Beijing's CBD where the Genting Snow Park should have real proper Made in China snow.
How will Covid-19 affect the Olympics?
Much like last year's Toyko Olympics, athletes will be in bubbles and will be constantly tested for Covid-19. The New Zealand team have already had a scare.
Medical staff watch during the mixed doubles curling match at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Photo / AP
It means even more testing for the athletes. AP reports the athletes will have to contend with the daily collection of coronavirus samples as well as the usual doping tests. The 2,900 or so competitors have to make themselves available for unannounced doping control visits and that puts them at greater risk of catching Covid-19 and possibly ruling them out of their event.
The torch relay was shortened considerably to just three days because of concerns about the coronavirus.
As with Tokyo, organisers say there will be no fans from abroad and only a smattering of "selected" local fans.
How can I watch?
Sky is the official broadcaster for the Olympic Winter Games in Aotearoa. Sky has six channels featuring the Olympic Winter Games with Sky Go access free to all Sky Box customers. Viewers can also watch all the same content from all the same six channels on Sky Sport Now, their sport streaming service.
Free-to-air content will be available on Prime, including live coverage of Kiwi athletes competing at the Games and other events and highlights.
nzherald.co.nz will have live blogs of every New Zealand event.
Wolfgang Kindl of Austria speeds past the Olympic rings during a men's luge training run at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo / AP
What will the timing be like?
China is five hours behind New Zealand which means events will start around midday and continue through to around 2am. Most New Zealand athletes are on the mountains, which means they need daylight to race, so will be competing at the friendly viewing hours between 2.30pm-8pm.
For a full schedule of Kiwis in action click here.
How many Kiwis are competing?
A team of 15 New Zealanders are in China competing across four sports in snowboarding, free-skiing, downhill skiing, biathlon and speed skating. In total 17 events will feature Kiwis. The youngest in the team is 16-year-old Gustav Legnavsky.
Zoi Sadowski Synnott - Snowboarding - Women's Slopestyle, Big Air Cool Wakushima - Snowboarding - Women's Slopestyle, Big Air Alice Robinson - Alpine Skiing: Women's Giant Slalom, Super G, Downhill Tiarn Collins - Snowboarding - Men's Slopestyle, Big Air Ben Barclay - Freestyle skiing, Slopestyle Finn Bilous - Freestyle skiing, Slopestyle Margaux Hackett - Freestyle Skiing - Big Air Women, Slopestyle Campbell Wright - Biathlon - 10km Sprint, 20km Individual, 12.5km Pursuit, 15km Mass Start Chloe McMillan - Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe Anja Barugh - Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe Nico Porteous - Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe Miguel Porteous - Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe Ben Harrington - Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe Gustav Legnavsky - Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe Peter Michael - Speed Skating - 1500m, 10000m
Overall the Olympics are expected to draw about 2,900 athletes from about 90 national Olympic committees.
Are we going to get any medals?
New Zealand certainly has a great chance. The Associated Press has predicted every medal winner at the Winter Olympics and is picking New Zealand to come home with one gold and two silvers.
AP predicts 2018 medallists Nico Porteous and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott will be on the podium once again, improving on their bronze medals in Pyeongchang.
Porteous is picked to claim New Zealand's first ever Winter Olympics gold in the freestyle skiing halfpipe event while AP has snowboarder Sadowski-Synnott earning two silver medals in Big Air and Slopestyle.
Alice Robinson could medal in the Giant slalom after claiming three World Cup wins over the last two years.
American speed skater Erin Jackson is the world champion in the 500m but fell at the US trials only for the winner Brittany Bowe to give up her spot to Jackson. So no pressure on Erin to make up for that kind act.
Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu is looking for his third straight Olympic gold and cement his place as one of the greatest of all time or SkateGOAT as I like to call him.
American snowboard star Chloe Kim returns after winning halfpipe gold aged 17 in Pyeongchang as does downhill skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin who already has two Olympic gold medals.
China won just one gold four years ago so there will be plenty of pressure on defending champion Wu Dajing in the 500-metre short-track event.
Dutch long-track speedskater Ireen Wüst already has 11 Olympic medals, five of which are gold, and will look to add to them.
And finally, keep an eye out for USA's Lindsey Jacobellis who at age 35 returns for her fifth Olympics. The snowboard cross rider is, unfortunately, most famous for leading the final in 2006 when she decided to celebrate with a grab on the final jump, only to crash and miss out on gold.
Sorry, are you new to Earth? The Winter Olympics have been beset by political controversies along with health concerns, AP reports. Six weeks ago, the United States, Britain and several allies said they would not send dignitaries to attend the Beijing Games as a protest against human rights abuses by the Communist Party regime.
Athletes have been threatened by the organising committee with "certain punishments" for saying or doing anything that would offend their Chinese hosts, while several delegations urged anyone headed to Beijing to take "burner" phones instead of their personal devices because of concerns their personal information could be compromised.
The National Hockey League cited uncertainty caused by the pandemic to hold back all of its players from the Olympic tournament. And American broadcaster NBC said it won't be sending announcing teams to China, citing the same virus concerns raised when the network pulled most of its reporters from the Tokyo Games.
Who is the Olympics mascot?
Shuey Rhon Rhon (L), the mascot of the 2022 Winter Paralympics, and Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the 2022 Winter Olympics, are pictured in the Olympic Village. Photo / Getty
Meet Bing Dwen Dwen - a panda. According to the official Olympics site - "Bing" has several meanings, though the most common is ice. The word also symbolises purity and strength, while "Dwen Dwen" means robust and lively, and also represents children.
"Bing Dwen Dwen wears a full-body "shell" made out of ice, which resembles an astronaut suit - a tribute to embracing new technologies for a future with infinite possibilities. The shell also helps the panda to skate, snowboard and ski alongside the Olympic athletes."
While Shuey Rhon Rhon, a Chinese lantern child, is the mascot of the 2022 Winter Paralympics.
"The name "Shuey Rhon Rhon" has several meanings. "Shuey" has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for snow, while the first "Rhon" in Chinese Mandarin means to 'to include, to tolerate'. The second "Rhon" means 'to melt, to fuse' and 'warm.' Combined, the full name of the mascot promotes the desire of having greater inclusion for people with impairments throughout society, and more dialogue and understanding between the cultures of the world."
What does the logo look like?
A little something like this...
Beijing 2022 logo.
Any new sports making their Olympic debuts?
Women's monobob (yes monobob) and men's and women's big air freestyle are the new events along with mixed team competitions in freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross, and the mixed relay in short track speed skating.
Breeana Walker of Australia monobobbing along at the World Cup event in Germany. Photo / Getty
Alright let's just get through this one first, but next up is Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy which will see the European nation host for a fourth time.
