Beijing Olympics Primer: Everything you need to know about the 2022 Winter Games

It’s only been six months since the Tokyo Summer Games finished but it’s already Olympic time again.

Yes, really.

In fact, early competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China started on Wednesday. Friday’s opening ceremony marks the official beginning and the medal events will come fast and furious until the closing ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 20.

You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

From the “closed loop” COVID management system to the “purification” of the internet to the cute mascots, we’ve got you covered. And sports – we’ve got that, too – from Team Canada to new events to the biggest country swap of the Games.

First off, how do I watch the Games?

With coffee. Beijing is 13 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone so prime time viewing takes on a new meaning. For those watching in Toronto, Canada’s first Olympic medal could come at 4:50 am on Saturday, Feb. 5, in women’s long track speedskating. Canada’s final medal could be at 1:25 am Sunday, Feb. 20 – if the men’s hockey team makes it to the gold medal round.

Haven’t the Olympics already been to Beijing?

Yes. Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and it is now the only city to have hosted both editions of the Games. The 2008 Games were often referred to as the country’s “coming out party.” The 2022 version is less party and more authoritarian rule, workers in Hazmat suits and COVID rules that make the harshest moments of Ontario’s lockdowns look free and easy.

Where exactly are the Olympics being held?

The ceremonies, hockey, curling, figure skating and speedskating happen in Beijing. The “water cube”, where swimming was held in 2008, has been turned into the “ice cube” for curling. Big air, the single jump event for freestyle skiers and snowboarders, is being held on the site of a former steel mill in Beijing.

Alpine skiing and the sliding sports (bobsled, skeleton and luge) are being held in Yanqing, 75 kilometers northwest of Beijing. It’s referred to as mountainous “suburb” of the capital and home to the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China.

Freestyle skiing, snowboarding and the nordic sports (cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping and nordic combined) are in Zhangjiakou, a ski resort area 200 km northwest of Beijing. The government built a high-speed train for the Games that reportedly makes the journey from Beijing in one hour.

Does it snow?

Not much. At least not the kind that falls naturally. The National Alpine Ski Center in Yanqing, where Olympic alpine skiing events will be held, reported 2 cm of snow between January and March last year. (That’s less than Toronto got in a single hour during the snow storm three weeks ago.) But they’ve reportedly got 1.2 million cubic tons of man made snow for the Olympics thanks to hundreds of snow making machines, much to fury of environmentalists concerned about the amount of water being used.

What are the new Olympic events?

There are seven. Monobob, a new women’s bobsled where, as you might have guessed, a single athlete pushes and drives alone. There’s also big air skiing for men and women, the event that debuted last time for snowboarders. And new mixed gender team events in aerials skiing, ski jumping, snowboard cross and short track speedskating. The unofficial new event is staying COVID negative, which had a trial run at the Tokyo Summer Games.

What’s a closed loop?

It’s the way China, which has a zero COVID policy, is trying to pull off these Games amid the highly contagious Omicron variant. Games participants – that’s athletes, coaches, staff, journalists and officials, pretty much everyone not wearing a Hazmat suit – work, travel, eat and sleep within the closed loop the entire time they’re in Beijing. No wandering, no sight seeing. They were rigorously tested before entering the loop and get a daily PCR test within the loop.

And still, by Wednesday there were 17 cases of COVID identified inside the loop.

Who’s there?

Approximately 2,900 athletes from 90 countries are expected to compete in 109 medal events across 15 sports.

Who’s not there?

Fans. No foreign fans and no ticket-buying Chinese fans, either. (Officials said they will “invite groups of spectators” to be present who will “strictly abide” by COVID countermeasures.) No NHL players, after the league pulled out of the Olympics over China’s strict COVID protocols. No politicians and officials from Canada, the US, Britain and Australia, countries that engaged in a “diplomatic boycott” of the Games.

What do we know about Team Canada?

The Canadian delegation includes 215 athletes, the third largest Winter Games team and the most women ever with 106 athletes competing in women’s events and 109 in men’s events. The youngest athlete is 16-year-old snowboarder Brooke D’Hondt and the oldest is 47-year-old curler Jennifer Jones. The team includes 45 athletes who have won Olympic medals at previous Games and 117 athletes attending their very first Olympics. They hail from most corners of the country with the largest group, 60, coming from Ontario.

Who is Canada’s flag bearer?

Not one, but two were named on Wednesday: Hockey team captain Marie-Philip Poulin and short track speedskater Charles Hamelin. They’re Canadian sporting legends and multiple-time Olympic gold medallists. She’s called “Captain Clutch” for her ability to deliver when it matters most, such as scoring an overtime goal to beat the US at the worlds. And he’s the first Canadian short track speedskater to compete at five Olympics. Neither of them has ever left an Olympics without a medal. They’ll lead the Canadian contingent in the Parade of Nations in the opening ceremony on Friday. (That’s 7 am in Toronto, in case you’re wondering).

How many medals will Canada win?

Gracenote, a data analytics company, projects the Canadian team will win 22 medals – six gold, five silver and 11 bronze. That updated projection, released Wednesday, puts Canada in a tie for fourth in the overall medal table, a drop from third in 2018 Pyeongchang when the team had a best ever result with 29 medals. It puts Canada behind Norway, Germany and Russia and tied with the USA in overall medals.

Did you say Russia?

Yes, Russia. But at the Olympics it’s called the ROC – the Russian Olympic Committee – as part of its ongoing punishment over its state-sponsored doping program. But it’ll be hard to think of ROC as anything but Russia with President Vladimir Putin expected to be on hand, cheering.

What’s a medal worth?

Canadians are awarded $ 20,000 for gold, $ 15,000 for silver and $ 10,000 for bronze from the Canadian Olympic Committee Athlete Excellence Fund. Depending on the athlete and the sport, an Olympic medal nets far more than that by opening doors to opportunities and more lucrative sponsorships.

Kaillie Humphries is on Team USA?

She is now. Canada’s three-time Olympic medal winning bobsled pilot – who carried the nation’s flag with her brakewoman in the closing ceremony in Sochi 2014 – swapped her sport nationality after alleging verbal and emotional abuse by Canada’s bobsled coach. She received her American citizenship (her husband is American) in the nick of time for these Games where she is looking to become the first woman to win four Olympic medals in bobsled.

What’s up with China’s men’s hockey team?

They’re in Group A, along with Canada and the USA. But, for a time, it looked like the international hockey federation might not let them play in their home Olympics. There were concerns that their lack of experience, made worse by the pandemic, and China’s strict rules on dual nationality would mean Olympic games with very lopsided scores, embarrassing the host nation and doing hockey’s international reputation no favors. China faces the US on Feb. 10 and Canada on Feb 13.

Will there be athlete protests?

Hard to say. The IOC rules allow for athletes to make symbolic gestures, such as taking a knee, in the arena of play before competition or during introductions, which happened in Tokyo. The IOC also says athletes can express views during press conferences, media interviews and on social media. A Beijing 2022 official on the other hand has said “any behavior or speech that is against the Olympic spirit, especially against the Chinese laws and regulations, are also subject to certain punishment.”

How’s the Wi-Fi?

Plentiful but for Chinese citizens the internet is heavily censored. China’s cybersecurity regulator announced a month-long “purification” of the internet to create “healthy, happy, and peaceful online environment” that just happens to coincide with the February’s Olympics. Meanwhile, journalists from around the world are taking precautions to avoid the potential of state snooping and hacking.

How about those mascots?

The Olympic mascot is Bing Dwen Dwen. It’s a giant panda, naturally, wearing a full-body shell of ice, which we’re told, helps the panda skate, snowboard and ski and is a tribute to “embracing new technologies for a future with infinite possibilities.” The Paralympic counterpart is Shuey Rhon Rhona Chinese lantern.

What is the International Olympic Committee’s favorite sport?

Judging by the schedule it’s a Canadian fan favorite – curling! It’s the only sport that is on every single day of the Games. It fact, mixed doubles curling begins two days before the opening ceremony and the final curling game is the women’s gold medal match on Feb. 20, the final day of the 2022 Beijing Games.