Getting Ready for the 2022 Winter Olympics: From the Glittering Gold to the Rampart Controversies
Photo by EPA
Amongst everything happening around the world, the anticipation of the start of one of the largest global events is starting to rise. The 2022 Winter Olympics, being held in Beijing, China, will run from February 4th through the 20th. Beijing will be the first city in Olympic history to host both a Winter and Summer Olympics. The Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest,” that was used to host the 2008 Summer Olympics will be seen again for the opening and closing ceremonies this year.
The 2022 Olympics are intended to include a record of 109 events in 7 overall sports: biathalon (a sport that involves cross-country skiing and rifle shooting), bobsledding, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating (which includes figure skating and speed skating), and skiing (which includes snowboarding and ski jumping). Also, new events were added for Beijing 2022. This includes events like women's monobob (or single person bobsled), mixed team competitions in freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and a mixed relay in short track speed skating.
Photo by AFP
The USA will be sending their very best to represent the country, including snowboarding legend Shaun White and skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin. They are a part of the 222-member U.S. Olympic team, which also features the most female Winter Olympians in U.S. history. There are 88 returning Olympians in this year’s team, including four athletes who will compete in their fifth Olympics. The 222 athletes are the second-largest Team USA going to a Winter Olympics, only following the 228 athletes who competed in Pyeongchang in 2018. The athletes come from 31 states, including California, Colorado, and Minnesota.
However, while excitement is present, so is some controversy. Not only are things shaky with COVID-19 and the newest Omicron variant still being a global issue, but there is also an issue many countries have with China’s authoritarian government. Their government has been credibly accused of raging abuses to human rights. According to aol‘s article on the issue, “Chinese authorities have allegedly detained more than 1 million Muslims, many of them Uyghurs, in the country's westernmost province, Xinjiang… and subjected millions throughout the vast autonomous region to ‘torture, mass surveillance, cultural and religious erasure, separation of families, forced labor, and sexual violence and violations of reproductive rights.’”
Activists mentioning those crimes have called for a boycott. They believe the Chinese government will use these games to aid in moving attentions away from these abuses. Many countries have followed through with boycotts, including New Zealand, Latvia, many European countries, and the United States. While athletes will still be sent to compete and represent their country, no diplomats from the boycotting counties will be in attendance. This choice from these country’s is to show the way they completely are against the attacks that are happening in China, ones that are being allowed to happen by their own government.
The Olympics have always been a way to bring pride to your country in many ways, and it seems that despite these controversies, many remain eager for the event. The countries competing have the full support of those back home, no matter the circumstances. It is only a matter of days until the games begin. Once they do, the athletes and their respective countries will only have eyes of the finish line. This is a time for joined celebrations and there will rightly be many moments to do this; however, it is just as important that we do not forget what these games may be trying to drag attention from. We wish the athletes luck as the games get closer, just as we should wish justice to those being harmed unjustly.
https://www.chinahighlights.com/winter-olympics/
https://www.newsweek.com/every-country-staging-diplomatic-boycott-chinas-winter-olympics-1657177
https://www.today.com/news/beijing-olympics-2022-schedule-events-where-watch-t225986