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5 months since now. (late August)

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This is the list of events according to Wikipedia and we will have 105 events in 15 disciplines

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It is not clear if they have people at the stadium or not due to the Covid the ticket sale plan is still under developlemtn.


Sources:
1. https://twitter.com/Beijing2022/header_photo
2. https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/schedule/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Winter_Olympics
4. https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/venues

Reserved for updates

It's strange that less than half year separate two Olympics, but we all know reason of it.
In Winter Olympics my favourite events is ice hockey and biathlon. Bobsleigh is also interesting to watch.
It's great news that NHL players will be allowed to play in Olympics, so we will see highest level hockey. Without NHL players 2018 tournament wasn't such exciting.
It's only pity that same like Tokyo, Beijing timezone isn't good to watch events in Europe and most events will be held in the morning in our timezone.

just curious, which country is usually a strong contender in the Winter Olympics and what sport they usually dominate? I don't really follow it since most of the sport that are in the winter Olympics is usually not well known in my country and my country hasn't really participated that much in it so my interest in the event is not that great(no offense to the huge fans of The Winter Olympic) compare to the Summer Olympics.

Yess, finally! I'm much more fond of the Winter Olympics than Summer. I'm actually surprised that the Games will take place, considering that the pandemic still isn't over, and with delta spreading, who knows what will be in China in winter? But in any case, I'm really looking forward to it. My favorites are figure skating, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, and, of course, ski jumping.

I wonder who's going to nail it this year: the US, Norway, Germany, or maybe Russia?

Japan Olympics made it and so I believe this Winter Olympics can do better.
As the vaccination is really in full force in most countries, I think, by next year, we will be more contained with the spread of this virus. Hopefully.
But let us see how China will approach regarding spectators. Are they going to be more open or not?

Still USA, they dominate the winter Olympics as well.

I'm not usually in Winter Olympics, but when I was in Canada many years ago, I started to watch the Olympics and there are sports that I don't know personally, like the curling, Lol. It was really a good experience to see how this sports are being played.  ;D

And then there was this movie "Men in Broom", a romantic comedy about this sports.

Still very exciting games, same with the Summer games, but obviously, not all countries can join the winter olympics.

I remember watching Winter Olympics because of Yuna Kim, a South Korean figure skater. She's already retired as she's about 30 yrs old already. I guess, there is advantage for those countries that experience winter season. Because in some countries, they never have any winter so practicing these winter sports, they need to really go to cold countries if they don't have these facilities in their home country.

The last time I got interesting watching the Winter Olympics is way back when Apollo Ohno was the Golden Boy of the Olympics, the most decorated Winter Olympics athlete from the US if I'm not mistaken (already inducted to the US HOF.

Just imagine him the Michael Phelps of Summer Olympics when he was dominating the swimming events.

But maybe this time, I will try to follow and see how will be the next face of the American athletes.

Usually the host country is the one who always got a lead because of home country advantage and this time it's China. But as usual European country and US is a good contender on this Olympics because they specialise on this events too.

Even if the pandemic still is not over, China will prepare for that and maybe they will use strict rules for the audience who wants to watch the Winter Olympics.

Here is an article for your favorites sports:

https://olympics.com/en/news/beijing-2022-a-guide-to-the-top-athletes-and-teams-to-watch-at-the-winter-olympi
https://olympics.com/en/news/beijing-2022-a-guide-to-the-top-athletes-and-teams-to-watch-at-the-winter--x7853

Those two articles can be your guide to select the players or teams if you want to get more info to bet on the sports you like.

I am not too familiar with all sports, but I wonder which sports betting will add those events to their list as previous events.

It is not a surprising that the games are actually going to take place, taking into account that if the Olympic Games took place and they are bigger than the Winter Games then it makes sense for the Winter Games to be held as well, what I'm worried about is that the last games were not really transmitted where I live so I could not really watch them except for a few events and now if we add the difference in the time zone then this is probably going to be even harder now.

NBC New York has compiled a compilation of the top athletes who will participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Are they:

Abby Roque, Hockey (USA)
Conor McDavid, Hockey (Canada)
Chloe Kim, Snowboarding (USA)
Mikael Kingsbury, Freestyle Skiing (Canada)
Charlotte Kalla, Cross-Country Skiing (Sweden)
Mikaela Shiffrin, Alpine Skiing (USA)
Pita Taufatofua, Cross-Country Skiing (Tonga)
Natalie Geisenberger, Luge (Germany)

But details about these athletes: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/tokyo-summer-olympics/athletes-to-watch-in-the-2022-beijing-winter-olympics/3209848/


Do you know these athletes? What do you think of them?

I thought that all the Olympics including Winter Olympics is going to be hosted in the same country? Also, why is Winter delayed in about two years? Is it because of something about when it started or something much more historical reason?

Winter and summer games are always in different locations.

The Winter Olympic Games are not late, they take place every 4 years, two years after the Olympic Games.
The Olympic Games in Tokyo were postponed to 2021, but they should have taken place in 2020.

I was not really sure of the answer so I went on the Google and it said :
Norway
US
Germany
Are the top dogs in winter Olympics they have been winning a lot of medals since it started therefore we might be seeing these countries dominate in the same and at the same time they are followed by Soviet union apparently!? Which I do think is a bit weird to say right now then Canada and Austria.
( Taken from google )

https://i.ibb.co/0QpCkPN/266371.png (https://ibb.co/nRq7Th2)

It's not that weird. Just think about the modalities in which each country wins and its greatness for winter games.

It was strange not to see Norway with many medals. Much of the sports originates there, especially skiing. Who has 3 or 4 variations. And it is a country where this type of sports is highly valued.

The USA and Germany, due to their size and investment in these activities, turn out to be similar.

The Russia/Soviet Union did not invest much in these sports for a long time, but it has been gaining ground.

Already Canada, despite being a northern country of the world, they are very strong in two or three ways, but in others, seems to invest a lot.

Austria turns out to be a smaller country compared to others.

All winter sports in general entertain me, but I admit that Figure skating and speed skating captivate me.

Topic it makes you think that we are there just around the corner with some new Olympic games, 4 great sporting events in less than a year.

According to the small research that I have conducted the winter games were held at the same place and time than the summer games until 1992, it was decided by the Olympic Committee to change this and held an additional winter games in 1994 in order to bring more attention to those sports and since then there has been a two year difference between the games, also this was made possible because they wanted to obtain more revenue and they thought that this was a way to do it, so as you can see there is nothing historical about it.

https://olympics.com/ioc/faq/history-and-origin-of-the-games/since-when-have-the-summer-and-winter-games-no-longer-been-held-in-the-same-year
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-10-15-8603170646-story.html

For as long as I can remember the winter and summer games have always been held in different countries.

Both winter and summer games take place every 4 years this way every 2 years we will have either one or the other.

The only recent peculiarity occurred this year due to Covid and the postponement of the summer games for a year.

If the information is correct then it means they had been screened and their capability and durability had been processed. New athletes need to be accepted into the game so they can do more and meet up with the team. Although there can still be an arrangement before the the day cause there is still time and I don't think information is much rely on because time is still available.

It is official by this week, I forgot to update here.
Cina decided to ban all foreign spectators in China.

It will be allowed only for mainland people with vaccines to watch the game and support the players.

Just an update.

100 days left at the start of the Winter games.

at least there are some spectators that they are allowing now. remember the population of china is so huge, so even a small portion of their population will watch live, would already be better than no one inside.
maybe this time, would be more lively than the previous summer olympics in japan.
but they just placed lockdown in the 3rd chinese city owed to covid - source (https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211028-third-chinese-city-placed-under-covid-lockdown)
let's see if they can contain this before the winter olympics

Wish all the best to china 2022 Olympic games. Sport is a reflection of the social, cultural, and ecnomic norms of the  country.
I am looking forward to witness the Chinese culture, the Chinese spirit, the way Chinese are doing things on the upcoming winter Olympic.. The road is still long,  but, a confident and courage person has unlimited energy and power. When the warrior reach to the top of the mountain,  he even doesn't realize he is on the top..

NHL confirmed that they won't let their players to play in 2022 Olympics. Main reason of it is covid19, there is big number of infected players in most of teams that they even had to stop season for a week.
It's sad news because hockey is one of main events of Olympic Games and same like in 2018 it won't have it's biggest stars.

the host country should expect this situation to happen as this new omicron variant is already starting to spread the panic among global population. we don't know the extent of its impact in the upcoming months but some countries are getting very strict again with their borders. so high likely, that if in case this winter olympics will push thru with their target dates, the spectators will be very limited in attendance.
another quiet olympics maybe. just watch the events on home screen.

This is bad news for us, even meh China is more secure than the US for COVID.

I hope the game will be played and not postponed, as Italian I'm hyped for the female skier Sofia Goggia who is dominating right now.

45 days at the start.

These winter olympic games are really going to be pretty weird without some of the main stars. In addition to many having to go to China earlier because of the quarantine, some of the good athletes run the risk of not being able to participate if they become infected.

What's more, the games will take place on the date that could be the peak of this new wave of the pandemic that is affecting the entire world.

Expect the worst as we are still in this pandemic era, now, that there is another variant spreading fast. I think, we need to accept the fact that these coming years will be a challenge not only to sports industry but all the other industries. Basically, we need to survive and surpass this pandemic. So these other entertainments will just be a plus to us. There are other times that we will see a better day in sports.

I hope it will still be pushed through. Is the reason for these players really because of Covid or because of the influence which the Beijing Olympics is boycotted?

So many people are already traveling everywhere besides this country is promoting themselves, they wouldn't want anything unsafe to happen in the event. But it's not surprising because 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow was also boycotted.

Thats fine I believe the Beijing 2022 Winter Games are being boycotted (and very rightly so) by many other countries. China is acting like a child saying that they will only allow their own people to watch? Ha. Ok. The fact that China has commited a multitude of human rights violations (Genocide on Uyghurs and polical prisoners like Falon Gong, Human organ harvesting from said political prisoners and much more...)

I definitely will not be watching the games in China.

So many people only listen to only one TV news channel and accepted it as a fact when all the Muslims in the middle east actually appreciate what China had been doing to the Uyghurs for they funded the community well. The news TV where you heard that Uyghurs are being murdered is lying to you. They couldn't stand China becoming successful in business now they are undermining it.

If they are so cruel, why don't the world police strike at them but only boycott the olympics? That's a peony's way of saying we hate you.

Not wanting to get into political issues, because that's not even the topic.
China has a military power, which everyone knows that by attacking them, the retaliation will be very strong and unscrupulous. Then attacking China would cause a global crisis for the products we consume. China is currently the factory in the world, for a good few months, we didn't have many products in the midwives. Anyway, no matter how much attack power you might have, even if you were superior to the Chinese, the one who lost the most was the western world.

Exactly the point there. American businessmen are investing in China. Ruining this country will destroy everything but why make them the bad guy at the same time when the news is not really true. Boycotting alone is just the most childish thing in the world to do. If they are doing that, then it's close to politicizing this event.

They are announcing diplomats not to go there as if they are invited. They are not invited to this Olympics, it's for the athletes.

It's just so frustrating that the summer games have been canceled for over a year when in fact, lots of countries have prepared for it already. I hope that it would resume soon so players who prepared for it could showcase their skills and talents in their perspective sports of choice again. This winter game will surely be exciting since we've all waited for it despite the pandemic.

I don't want to discuss to much politics in here but i would say that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle here. I read that when the first chinese (han-chinese) people moved to uyghur territory a few decades ago because they simply wanted to live they, they were threatened and even attacked by the uyghurs for no reason. Then China sent a lot of police and military in that region and from that point on everything just got out of control. I do think though that those camps where innocent uyghurs are kept to re-educate them are of course not ok.
To the olympics: As far as i know only diplomats are boycotting the games and no athletes so far. So that is not that big of a deal for me.

There is positive development from USA as they are going to attend these games starting in Feb 2022. The aim of games is to promote harmony and friendship among countries. There are 18 officials that have applied for 3 months visa, these officials also include persons who will look after security matters.
US applies to China for 18 officials to attend Winter Olympics after Joe Biden declares diplomatic boycott (https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3160999/us-applies-china-18-officials-attend-winter-olympics-after-joe)

Another huge games during pandemic. Will every country send their athletes there? Some countries decides to boycott the games. Is team US comming? As it is in Chine, I bet China will get most of the medals these year. I am going to watch ice hockey, biathlon and bobsleigh. Any curling fun here?

I am also wondering if this would really push through because of the pandemic, not to mention the new variant that has been recorded to have an increasing case in many countries as of today. Let’s just wait for the coming days, closer to the said date, to see if this will be actually happening.

Yeah, I think only diplomats and politics from Western countries will boycott games and yeah, it's not big deal, nobody will miss them there. I think something similar happened in 2014 Olympics in Sochi were diplomats from some country also didn't attend games.  It's not case like 1980 or 1984 Olympics were atheletes from some countries didn't participated in it.

I think it's very unlikely that China will lead medal table, they're not good at winter sports. Most likely it will be usual suspects like Sweden, Norway, USA, Canada, Germany.
And Olympics is only time in 4 years when I tune in to watch curling :D. Main sport for me is hockey and biathlon.

Countries politics have major role in joining a specific sports event or not. AFAIK, USA is coming to attend this Olympics and boycott of this Olympics will defiantly give benefit to China as they will be able to grab more gold. Last time in 2018 winter Olympics, China was able to get only one gold medal.

https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/pyeongchang-2018/medals

I have completely forgotten the pain in the ass I've got while watching previous Winter games due to time zone… Beijin has almost identical local time as Pyeongchang… I guess I am going to miss all that juicy live hockey matches and races. But, it will be easy to spot who is following Olympic games and who is not by the light in the window :D Every time I think about that time zone difference, I get really upset. It will be impossible to watch any sport, as spoilers will be in social media, tv news, any general news resource in the internet. Spoilers everywhere…

This ends up always being a problem for someone in the world. It is impossible for all games to be played on a schedule that suits everyone.
It is true that when competitions take place in Europe, it is easier to have a schedule that is more accessible to everyone in the world. But, they cannot happen in Europe. When you go to Asia or even the Americas, this management becomes more complicated.

Now, the annoying thing is the person until wanting to see the test, even recorded, and then at some point in the news we saw the result.  >:(

It would be a great pity if there is no public at this event. Many athletes have been living here for 4 or maybe 8 years. With support in the hall and stadiums, some athletes rise above themselves. Maybe it can still be decided to admit the public if the virus can be kept under control? It is only difficult to isolate the athletes if there is an audience. Or very strict access controls. Antigen test eg could be useful but very expensive and very time consuming.

During Summer Olympic games 2020 there were spectators in every sport. During Football Euro 2020 there also spectators on the stadium. I think this wont be a problem at all. Specially for those who are vaccinated. Just show QR code, wear mask and you are free to enter everything. Even 2m distance rule is not necessary to follow.

The problem will be in getting to Beijin. Some countries does not accept vaccine from particular companies, or does not accept test made not in their country. This might be the biggest issue, when you are vaccinated, but, for example, Pfizer is not authorized in Beijin. And you either have to schedule a new vaccine (of course this must be scheduled in advance), which you might want to take (who needs an extra vaccine, huh?) or side effects can spoil persons stay during games.

China is a very strict country with pretty much the same order and rules.  I do not yet know if the viewers who are vaccinated with the vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna will be allowed to show the QR code and freely enter the stands?  As I know, the Chinese also have several of their own vaccines.  And of course, they will allow those vaccinated with the Chinese vaccine to fill the stands.  But with the vaccine and from other countries, for example from Russia, it is not clear.  
And you have to be a completely crazy fan, so that in addition to my vaccine, I also have a Chinese one.  And by the way, it is not known whether this is possible.  These difficulties, of course, greatly overshadow the Olympic Games themselves.  But what can you do?  You have to put up with such difficulties.

I guess it will be better to watch these games at home on your LED TV and cheer for your favorite athlete from comfort of your home rather then going through such strict hurdles of vaccine to watch the game. The vaccine diplomacy is at its peak, every country trying to prove that his vaccine is best and will accept people who have that vaccine.

Yeah, that's for sure!  Moreover, in reality during the Olympic Games 99.9% of all spectators watch the competitions of their favorite athletes and teams on TV.  And most of it is also in the recording, or separate video clips from the finish line or various noteworthy events during the competition.
But if a fan is present personally, then this is an order of magnitude more emotionally perceived by him. 
A good way to watch competitions in pubs, clubs or with a large number of fans of a particular competition.  Only for this, too, you need to get vaccinated :)

There is indeed no other option than to hold the Olympics without an audience. The risk of infections is far too great with all the associated consequences. Athletes should also be able to isolate themselves well during this tournament, I think? Doesn't seem very pleasant to me. You may then only be present with your own team from your own country. You will be completely isolated from the outside world. Very boring, but there's no other way.

EURO 2020 games had from 25% to 100% spectators in different cities. But you're wrong, Tokyo 2020 Olympics were held without spectators - all events were with empty stands.
And I think it was already confirmed some time ago to China won't let foreign spectators to watch Olympics. Now it's only question whether local people will allowed to watch Olympics.

Unfortunately, most of events will be played in morning time when pubs won't be opened yet :D. And winter sports isn't that popular as football for example, I doubt that many people watch it in pubs. Well, maybe mainly hockey fans in Canada, Sweden or Finland :D.

The summer games are more popular than the winter games, that's for sure. However, now that it's held in China Wort, a lot of people would otherwise go to watch matches. It is not for nothing that the largest population in the world. Too bad there's no audience allowed. I also cannot imagine that the situation with the virus will be completely under control within 2 months, because then the games will start. The Chinese population, are they actually fanatic alcohol drinkers? I thought they mainly ate sushi there instead of drinking beer  ;D

ya.ya.yo!

Is this confirmed?
If I can remember correctly people are allowed but only if they are citizens of China.

Maybe they have changed it since I had read it.

They are changing the protocols because of this new omicron variant which is said to be fast spreader. So we may see a "silent" winter olympics here without the audience. Just watch the events on your tv screen. And bet on your favorite casinos. Better be safe than sorry. It will be another dilemma for athletes because sometimes boost from audience is good but it seems they will be playing without audience.

We've already had the Tokyo Olympics without an audience, and still it was a formidable spectacle. I hope the Chinese are able to do the same.
China has a very strict protocol against covid, and it is thanks to it that they managed to eradicate covid-19 in 2020.

Unfortunately, those who suffer most from these restrictions are the local audience, but this is an unavoidable protection measure for games to take place, otherwise they could be canceled due to the emergence of the omicron variant that is making many countries lock-down.

I support games without an audience.

Oh, exactly!  I somehow did not take into account that China is in a completely different time zone.  Indeed, those countries where everyone watches the competition in pubs are in other time zones.  And all European countries and all America.  So yeah, it looks like it won't work this time.  We'll have to follow the news about the games just on TV and in the channels dedicated to the review of sports events. :(

This applies only if you don't have to go to work next day and set an alarm :D Otherwise the pillow and blanket will be your LED TV for next 6-8 hours.


Hope that does not offend our Chinese bitcointalk users, but you will be amazed if you google and see the numbers of strong alcohol they consume. A friend of mine works in alcohol industry and China and UAE (that surprizes me most) are main importers of alco.

Btw, instead of sushi and beer, I would better drink something more strong for covid disinfection and prevention  ;D And sorry, but sushi is traditional Japanese food, Chinese are crazy about noodles and rice :D

Guys, what sport are you going to watch ? Any ice hockey fans here?

UAE is a Muslim dominated country but alcohol and woman are easily available there, since they don't wanna lose revenue coming from tourism. Its tourists who consumed most part of alcohol in UAE.

Fate of Chinese ice hockey team is to be decided by International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) due to "insufficient sporting standard." Source (https://fortune.com/2021/12/03/beijing-olympics-2022-games-winter-china-ice-hockey-team-bad-banned/). Do you have any update on that whether Chinese team is coming or not.

Do you ask about whether Chinese ice hockey team is comming or whole Chinise Olympic deligation?

If you search your question on the page you have posted, you would find that “they are comming” (https://fortune.com/2021/12/08/china-olympic-ice-hockey-team-iihf-decision-winter-games-kunlun-red-star/amp/). But they will be an easy 3 points for every their opponent. Personally, I would allow them or any team to play, no matter how good or bad they are. Their opponent can test different tactics and combinations against such team, instead of testing against a strong opponent or in play-offs. One disadvantage of such games - strong team players might get an injury in a match that does not affect anything.

China playing just in 4th tier World Championship - Division II A. They're in same group with USA, Canada and Germany. If they will be allowed to play, even without NHL players these teams are going to destroy them. Double digits scores is likely to happen.
In previous Olympics, South Korea also didn't had big achievements in hockey, but they're much better than China and played decent there. They played decent hockey in 2018. I'm not sure what right decision about China would be.

As said in previous post, I'm going to watch hockey and biathlon mainly. I'm going to support our neighbours Latvia in hockey like it would be my country.

You cannot expect the Winter Olympics to be as big as the Summer Olympics, personally i am not a big fan of the winter Olympics even though i am die hard fan of the Summer Olympics who watches almost all events that interest me on a daily basis and because majority of the sporting events in the Winter Olympics are not familiar to me i am yet to watch a single event till live.

I will be following this thread, as i have no idea about the athletes participating and the events.

Without hesitation, the Chinese will do their utmost to make this Olympic Games a real celebration of sports. 
For example, I am primarily interested in biathlon among men, as well as bobsled competitions.  I believe that the Chinese organizers of the bobsleigh event will prepare a very high quality bobsleigh track for this event.  Of course, curling is also interesting, such a curious and slightly philosophical kind of winter sports. 
Yes, there are many more interesting things to see in February. :)

Its a good move to allow China to join the ice hockey campaign. Its allowed to play mainly because of the pressure of being a hosting nation. This way more people from china will come to see the game which will make them interesting. Since they are in group of USA, Canada and Germany. I would say match b/w USA and China will be interesting though USA will win easily.

Every hosting nation tries his best to make the games a real celebration of sports. If you note China is coming up strongly in every Olympics, finishng frst or at the second spot. They are not very good in winter games, in last winter games they won only one gold but I am very sure they will finish in top three this time.

33 days at the start

About time event.
Most of them will be "helpful for European".

For an example of curling, we can see long breaks during inconvenient hours.

https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/schedule-by-sport/curling/

You are not alone in this list. There are not many countries in summer and winter Olympics that's why interest in lessen in these games as compared to Olympics where whole world compete. I also don't think many sites will offer betting on these games since not many are involve in betting on winter Olympics.

Well that is only partly true i would think. Yes of course countries from south america, africa and from parts of asia basically don't compete at the winter olympics at all, but the rest of the world pretty much does. So we still have north america, europe (including russia where the winter olympics are at least as important as the summer olympics) and also china, japan and korea. I would say that in all those countries and regions the winter olympics are a very important event and those are basically all the big and wealthy countries of the world. So i would not underestimate the importance of the winter olympics.

Since it’s just 6months after the Tokyo Events we can say that Chinese organizer will sure do their best to defear or give more impact than the previous event and since it will be their time again to host the event after pandemic they might give special attention to details now to make this event unforgettable and memorable. I’m excited to see the skiing and skating setup as well the performances of each participants.

After what they have been thru last time, they know already the steps that they need to take to contain this event.
As we are still in pandemic owed to this new variant, I believe, they are more prepared this time.
Let's say, there will be no live audience in this upcoming winter olympics, but I think the host nation will have less trouble this time.
In terms of handling the athletes and the containment of the spread of the virus.
Let us see if they will not suspend or delay this event and pursue the scheduled dates.

Agreed.The number of people who is going o participated will be low in the winter Olympic .Only the Pacific Ocean region people can sustain the winter Monsoon.Rest of the country people will not able to participate and win the Olympics due to huge change of weather.Eventhough some country maing some history in this Winter Olympics.

There's more to that than the weather. Well, actually it's weather geography (is that even a thing? :D), as in, a lot of countries do not have the geography to have events for the winter Olympics, as opposed to the summer ones. Also, the appeal of winter sports is usually far lower than their summer counterparts, and there are fewer disciplines with not much new being added (look at the summer Olympics last year, added skateboarding amongst others). So all of those factors contribute to less interest. You know what, something dawned on me right now. Sports overlap, right? I mean, you have wrestling and Judo, for instance, both indoor activities, both can be summer or winter, right?

Apart from that most of games in winter Olympics requires huge capital and weak countries can't bear that. Take example of curling. Majority of the world is not even familiar with such games. That's why interest is limited in such games as compared to olympics.

Ever since I was a little kid, I always looked forward to the ice hockey tournament in the Winter Olympics. Considering everything that has been going on with COVID-19 and matches being abandoned in the NHL, I am not even sure the regular season will end in time for the start of the tournament. That means an ice hockey tournament without the world's best players. In other terms, a sack of shit.

The NHL calendar has always been in conflict with the IIHF and I guess that will never change. Imagine playing a Football World Cup without players from the Premier League for example? Just awful...

I think winter Olympics ice hockey has same restrictions just like Olympics football has some restrictions. Teams can't send there 1st tier football team in Olympics same may  true for winter Olympics ice hockey. So ice hockey in winter Olympics won't be of IIHF and NHL level

China is the new emerging power and they will do there best to make it a big success like they did with Beijing Olympics 2008. They have world finest sporting infrastructure available in there country. Winter Olympics are always fun to watch but this year winter Olympics have biggest challenge of covid19.

I think we must learn to live with covid19 rather then halting all together everything. Better approach is to watch this Olympics at home, dont try to rik your life and others. AFAIK, China has not allowed spectators to come and see the game. Only chinese people will be allowed to see the game.

Don't try to explain the Winter Olympics and the ice hockey tournament if you don't know what you are talking about. ;)
It doesn't have any restrictions. If the best players are available, meaning those who play in the NHL, and they want to participate, they can. But in normal conditions, the ice hockey tournament together with the Olympics takes place during the playoffs of the NHL. Those players who feature in NHL teams who don't qualify for the playoffs are free to join their national teams. But those who still have club duties aren't released and allowed to play. If a team drops out of the playoffs, it often happens that certain national team players arrive to the tournament late. Others don't got at all. 

You're not completely right too. Your explanation more fits to IIHF World Championship which usually happens during NHL playoffs.
During Olympics in February, in NHL it will be regular season, so, no players from NHL will be available for Olympics. During previous Olympics, NHL made break in regular season and all players were released to Olympics and later they return to NHL. But this time NHL won't stop season, same like they didn't stopped in 2018.

Situation with NHL season and Olympic 2022 is complicated. According to schedule, Olympic ice hockey games will be from Feb 3 to Feb 20. And according to NHL schedule (https://www.nhl.com/schedule), there will be no games after Feb 2. If I remember correctly, teams have time to rest before play-off starts, so some players might try to join their Olympic team. But, due to covid, their clubs might not allow them to do it. It will really stupid to lose in play-off, because your multi million contract star sits at home for 10-14 days quarantine. Also, arent all-star games happens between season and play-off ? Players will be busy with it also, rather than fly to Olympics.

Covid19 is getting complicated once again, omicron variant is getting out of control in many countries once again. I don't think winter Olympics will be cancelled but they will defiantly go on without spectators from outside china. Its best to go with this approach, as we have to live with this virus for sometime.

China is creating a bubble around all athletes and federations participating in the games. As well as for all employees and volunteers of the event. All are tested, quarantined when they arrive in China, and live isolated from the rest of the population.

Therefore, nothing indicates that the games are cancelled. We just won't see spectators at game locations.

For all the things China does wrong, the zero COVID-19 policy is not one of them. The Chinese are probably one of the best equipped to tackle a safe and well organised Covid-free Olympics. The "closed-loop" is gonna operate on a very different standard than the rest of the society, more likely to be something similar to the Tokyo Olympics. And as long as everything goes well on the outside, there's gonna be an immense amount of resources put into the closed-loop, which is gonna take care of any situation.

China is getting even more restricted than games in Japan.

In Japan, only international delegations were in a bubble, and officials could leave and enter the Olympic city.
In China, no one is allowed to leave the event location, including staff. And when it is necessary to leave the place, they go in well-identified vehicles, so that in case of an accident, the support teams take the necessary precautions.

I think this is the correct way to go about this, I mean the risk is simply too high for those athletes, the games are held every four years and if they get covid they will lose the opportunity of a lifetime, we must not forget that while the stars of the games participate many times over the majority of the athletes only participate in a single edition of the games.

And it would be a shame that even if they took all the precautions to protect themselves they got the virus from a person that was allowed to go outside the bubble in which they are living.

That's a good approach. If we want to move things with covid19 then we have to place such restrictions. Even with such restricted approach you cant guarantee there will be zero covid19 case in winter Olympics but good thing is winter Olympics are going to start on scheduled date. I am excited to see ice hockey in action.

I don't want to go into politics too much, but I don't think that measures that China or Australia is taking against covid19 isn't normal. As you said, it's not possible to reach 0 covid19 cases and all these very strict measures affect peoples life in negative way too much.
As for Olympics, it's somewhat understandable that athletes will live in the bubble with daily testing and other stuff that we saw in Summer Olympics. IMagine, atheletes prepare for Olympics for 4 years and they miss chance to participate in most important competition because of Covid. It would be so pity.

this is why we will be reading news that some of the athletes are experiencing anxiety and depression. and a lot of them are doing their training in isolation which is already taking a toll on their mental health. but slowly, they are accepting this new normal. so yes, hard to achieve the 0 goal here. but as much as possible, at least contain the situation once they identify the possible source of infection. life goes on even for athletes. they need this event to forget the bout of depression that a lot are struggling.

That's why in these games, as well as those in Tokyo, the winners will be the athletes who are better mentally than even physically.

Before Covid, an athlete could even be very well mentally, but if physically he was a little lower than others, he would hardly be able to win. Today he is a little on the contrary, he may even be the best athlete in the world, but for not being well mentally, he ends up not having good performances.

This in turn gives the opportunity to lesser known athletes, who in a normal situation would hardly win, now get a good result because they are mentally strong, even though they don't have the best physical condition.

I agree with you, now everything is putting Covid-19 before everything, and I have seen that the measures they take to avoid contagion have no effect, this virus is something that obviously the human being created and that it does not It is known if they will actually have the cure, the truth is that I am skeptical about believing in the WHO and any organization, because I know that all this is based on a business model, but that it is directly affecting such an important event, which should not be above sport, and I believe that here sport should prevail and not other interests.

I agree, when people think of the Olympic Games most of the time they think on the impressive athletic performances that we see, however they do not take into account what is behind, which is the mentality that brought them to that point on their lives.

So someone that can deal with adversity and with difficult circumstances in a more healthy way is someone that has a great advantage over their competitors during these games, and we know this is true because on the Summer Olympic games we saw a lot of surprises because of this.

Am I the only that after hearing "next Olympic games" think about which country has best pharmacology? Athletes set such records, that normal human is not able to beat them anymore. To be able to improve Olympic record for 0.001 sec, or 0.001 point or 100 gram, athletes are obliged to take special medicine. During my conscious period of life I cant remember any Olympic games without doping or other scandal. Do you happen to know, are Norwegian biathletes with asthma participating in Beijin?

The question will be rather: are there athletes participating who do not have asthma?  ::)

Unfortunately, high competition sport begins to enter a level, where the demand to overcome records is so high and meaningless, that some kind of scheme is almost always accepted (as long as it is not too scandalous). It's sad and shameful.

And the administration must have some plan to continue the games even if there are some Covid-19 cases comes up, I am sure they have some plan for that. I have the feeling that with time the fear of this virus is getting down and in few years it will be like a normal virus. China can cope this virus better then anyother country.

Of course they can participate, kind of stupid to ask that. Asthma medications isn't a dope so I don't think that there's any problem with them participating. No, they don't need any shit like PED to push the limits, it's kind of insulting to athletes that you say that they're hitting a brick wall and that they need to dope up just to break that plateau.

I guess you are just not familiar with scandal with Norwegian biathlon athletes. In the last olympics they won a lot of medals in biathlon and cross country skiing. And what a coincidence, every Norwegian skiing athlete is sick with asthma. And what a coincidence, they all take SYMBICORT, which consist from a huge part of Salbutamol, that is counted as doping. Why others can use that, and others are not allowed to use special medicine? My position is - if you are sick, participate among other sick athletes.

I know you're being ironic, but in fact this is a controversial issue when we think that you can't deprive a player of taking a medication he depends on to be able to live, but it's a fact that such medications positively interfere with the athlete's performance and also very suspicious that some athletes are taking this medication without the real need, accusing they have asthma.
The problem is to find a "middle ground" between what is ethical and what is doping, this is a problem that isn't easily solved.

That's true. But also, those who take them without needing these drugs, sooner or later will have consequences for their own health.
Are they worried about it? No! But also, they will not have the opportunity to enjoy their victories for a long time. And when they die, they will be known as the athletes who won prizes at the expense of a false illness.

It happens like cycling with Armstrong. >:(

Health should be the most priority in everything, there is a reason why they get stricter inisolation as well in implementation since the spread of covid is still present and possible. Setting records of winnings might be too impossible at this time of pandemic but still many players are trying to do what they can to prove themselves. We will see whether the olympic will be successful or whi will win.

Just few weeks before the start of Olympics there are confirm cases of covid19 coming up in China. There are 73 confirmed cases by last Thursday source (https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/f5c311ba-962d-4be8-be66-5ead703314d1). Moreover there are some diplomatic issues also which China is facing. There are two challenges which China has to overcome in order to smoothly execute winter games.

No need to worry about the current 73 cases of the virus being reported Beijing introduces more COVID measures as cases mount before Olympics (https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-beijing-orders-more-covid-tests-cases-mount-before-olympics-2022-01-23/), and Winter Olympics: China's Covid policy and work? (https://www.bbc.com/news/59882774), I'm sure they'll be able to do it all before the 2022 Olympics take place.

Everything will be fine, all hope the 2022 Olympics in china this time can be a success.

It depends on the sport, I agree that in those sports in which there is almost no skill element at all the only options that athletes have is to be a freak of nature or to cheat if they want to break a world record.

However in the games in which your skill is more important this is not necessary, for example do you need illegal enhancing drugs to shoot a bow and arrow? Most likely the answer is no, and in such a sport cheating by using illegal substances is way more rare compared to what we see in other disciplines.

And again like the last Winter game, Sofia Goggia got an injury and she probably skip the following races in Beijin.

What a sad story for her, the second time in her carrier.

She was going for at least 2-to 3 potential medals.

Hey guys a question, what happens is that I don't have sports channels on TV that are so specific in the winter games, but in the past winter games there was a Venezuelan athlete who signed up and participated, in skis, which of course It looked very bad, but he got the sponsorship of a New Zealand philanthropist who helped him get his skis and his uniform, and promised to get him training, my question is, is there a way to find a list of athletes to look for him?
Many thanks in advance.

These measures look, to put it mildly, redundant against the background of the fact that some countries have already announced the end of restrictions and that they are now assessing the covid as a common cold.
In any case, I hope these Olympic Games will be successful and those athletes who planned to take part in them will do so without any surprises (as with Djokovic, for example).

That's true. But China plans things to have a very high level of restrictions. And they are not known for backtracking on their decisions.  ::)

So while the virus appears to be milder, they will continue to maintain the same level of restrictions before and during the tournament.

Although this may seem a little too extreme, at least we will have a tournament going on, which we hope will be without major complications because of this illness.

For bettors, just be contented on checking the events in your favorite sportsbook. :)
And watch it on your TV screen. This event is fast approaching so check out your bookies about the list and their odds.
Most bookies have no listing yet. But for sure they will include the olympics lineup in the coming days.
Let us be grateful that this will push thru. The host already knows how to contain the situation as it is not the first time to hold similar event during this pandemic.

That's understandable. There is still a lot of uncertainty about which athletes will participate and how the event will go.
We hope that the list of registered athletes continues to remain stable, and that none have problems with COVID in order to not be able to participate.

Now, I believe the stakes will be very uncertain. Some good athletes will not participate this year. So we are able to have some surprises.

I don't like it when the Olympic Games are held during a global pandemic.  At such competitions, apparently there will not be many spectators, or they will not be allowed into the stands at all.  Most of the famous athletes will not come to the Olympics.  And in general, such an event is a huge celebration.  And now it turns out just some kind of parody of the holiday.  But, I understand that this is still a billion-dollar business.  And then there is the politics of which countries will come, others will not.  
In any case, there remains some regret that the holiday is not quite a holiday, but, as it were, only half - everything is in the report and pictures on TV

I read this week about the swimming team at Penn State University that is having problems with the female athletes. A teams woman is completely destroying all the other swimmers and breaking records. One of the teammates spoke out that this will ruin her chances of attending olympia. So I wonder now, isn't that going to happen in all the other disciplines too? A male body with testosterone transitioning into female should always have biological advantages. Could we maybe make strategy to bet on all the trans athletes during the next Olympics? I am not an expert on olympia sports betting, but maybe there is a profit to be made.

Today I learned about the protocol for awarding medals: first, the athletes approach the podium in masks, then take them off, receive medals, pose for photographers, then put on masks again and leave the podium  ;D LOL
I wonder what sanctions will be imposed on athletes who violate this protocol? In my opinion, all this looks comical in 2022.

LOL   ;D

But, they are not very different measures from what happened in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, last year.
Now, the Chinese will be much stricter on this no doubt. They will probably have someone looking at the athletes and giving signs as to what they have to do and what not to do.

If I understand correctly, the federations and the Olympic committee are the ones who approve the participation of the athletes after achieving the minimum marks. Without that you cannot participate no matter how much sponsor or money you get to travel.

In any case, this list can serve as a guide, by the way, at the top left you can choose the language, just in case.

https://olympics.com/
Or:
https://olympics.com/es/noticias/beijing-2022-guia-de-atletas-y-deportistas-a-seguir-en-los-juegos

As I guess swimming has nothing to do with this Olympiad, but you have touched on an interesting topic. Has anyone seen information about trans athletes who will participate in this olympiad? As far as I remember, several trans athletes took part in the last summer olympiad, but did not achieve any success. I also wonder how such athletes will perform in China, as far as I know such things are not welcome there.

You cant expect medals from trans athlete straight away. They are very recently included in olympics and its a welcome move, nobody cares about people who are not in favout of there inclusion. Give them some time and space just like we gave to normal athletes. On 21 July 2021, at the same Games, Canadian non-binary soccer player Quinn became the first transgender person to compete at the Olympics, playing for the Canadian women's soccer team.    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_people_in_sports)

More controversies are part of the Beijing Summer Olympics for humanitarian reasons. The country keeps taking adequate measures to keep the three Olympic locations isolated from the rest of the nation. This has been criticised by other countries, but they aren't taken into consideration by the government. Even after such a restricted way of conducting the events, 34 have been tested positive. There is political pressure, health and safety measures from Western Nations are supporting the country overcome these problems.

There were lot of questions about China hockey team in Olympics. And finally, few days ago they announced their roster. All their 25 players this season is playing for Kunlun Red Star in KHL. It's strongest league in Europe, but Red Star is by far worst team in the league. In group with USA, Canada and Germany, even scoring goals will be big deal for them.
Interesting that from 25 players, just 9 are born in China. Others are from Canada, USA and Russia. And this team is called China national team:
https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2022/olympic-m/news/31645/enter_the_dragons

We already living in pandemic for 2 years. Life should go on, things can't be stopped for so long. And we're still in pandemic, but some countries already lifting all covid related restrictions and back to normal life.
And I think that you're wrong that most famous athletes will not come to Olympics. Only NHL players won't be able to participate, all other stars will come if they wont catch Covid in upcoming week.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics officially starts on February 4th.
But even before the opening ceremony, we will already have some tests going on, starting on the 2nd.

The game schedule:
https://i.ibb.co/xJP6FLf/b22.png (https://ibb.co/RzZcjbB)

Athletes will find a way to cheat archery anyway. Use aimbot :D or have a built in glasses scope, zoom or wind statistics. Or cheat with bow or an arrow. If pharmacology cant help, engineers will do.

Have you seen medal design already? Take a look here (https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/medal-design). I like them, much better than PyeongChang medals (https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/pyeongchang-2018/medal-design). I like that they are more detailed, while on previous winter olympics athletes got just a scratched circle imho.

I saw that ski race where she got injured again last weekend and even though i feel very sorry for her i also have to say that she was kinda provoking it a bit because if i remember correctly she already had a crash at the race before and still she did not take a break and even risked everything again last week. Sometimes you have to just slow down a little or skip a race in order to not risk another injury, which now happened. I just read the news though that she has still hope that she can take part in the Olympic Games even though her cruciate ligament tear is partially teared. I just hope she does not risk to much again. Knee injuries are no joke.

I hadn't seen the design of the medals yet, they are really pretty. They are actually prettier than the previous games. The ones from this year have a more classic air, but it looks very beautiful. Whoever designed these medals is to be congratulated, because they did an excellent job.

Sad news. I have nothing against trans athletes (and generally against trans people), but I think that women with a male body have an advantage over women with a female body. This is supported by the statistics and by the fact that there are many successful trans women, but I have not heard of any of the successful trans men. Perhaps the ideal solution would be to allocate a separate category for transathletes.

I share the same idea. It is one thing for a person to feel that he is of another gender, another is for the body to have characteristics of that gender. Now, it will be very complicated for federations to create a specific category, taking into account how socially this can be seen. So it will always be difficult to deal with this situation.

i don't think they will attain zero infection here, but it is up to them how they will contain the situation as this is not the first country to manage an event like this during pandemic. for sure, they got some pointers during the tokyo 2020 (happened jul-aug 2021) olympics.
controversies will always be a part of any event but it is up to the host country how they will handle this event to put troubles at minimum.
 for us, spectators, just be happy that we can bet at the comfort of our homes.

This is sad but you are right, if someone is determined to cheat then they are going to find way to do so, after all when it comes to esports there have been many scandals of people using software that aims for them to get perfect shots every time.

So it would not be impossible that someone has tried this already and if they have not that they will try this in the future and get an unfair advantage that way.

Unfortunately, when someone really wants to cheat, they will try to come up with a scheme to achieve this, even though it may take time to achieve it. But once you get it, without getting caught, then you'll take advantage.

Although organizations continually try to control this type of situation, to try to prevent them from happening, it is always difficult. This turns out to be a game of mouse and cat, where one tries to run away from the other.

One thing is for sure, sooner or later these cheaters end up getting caught. They may have already caused several problems, difficult to solve.

Modern sport is a struggle not only (and not so much) of athletes, but also a struggle of pharmacology. When sports federations ban a substance as doping, laboratories immediately develop a substance with similar properties but with a different chemical composition. And this race is endless. It's hard to say whether this is good or bad, because in the process, new drugs / stimulants are being developed that ordinary people can then use.

Yeah, cheaters always will find ways how to cheat. And it doesn't even matter which sports it is, whether it's weightlifting or chess.
You're right that cheaters will be caught sooner or later. Fair athletes will get their earned medals eventually, but they won't have that memorable moment when you see your country flag raised and anthem played during medal ceremony.

As far as I know, probably there won't be transgender athletes in Winter Olympics. Otherwise I guess news about it would spread widely already.
Personally, I'm sceptical about transgenders in such competition. For example, someone in male body competing against female, it's just not fair.

The games start today, with the following modalities:

Luge (02 Feb 2022, 19:30) Men's Singles Training Group A Run 1

Curling (02 Feb 2022, 20:05) Mixed Doubles Round Robin Session 1
SWE vs GBR
AUS vs USA
NOR vs CZE
CHN vs SUI


Beijing time

That is the thing I could never understand. Why would teams compete, show strategies, show team rosters before Olympics starts.
It is ok with the luge and sports like that - athletes test track. But what can team test in curling? Ice? Brush or rocks? Teams can have some training before games start, but why team play curling today and tomorrow?

These are not training sessions, but official games. If you follow the Olympics, you should have noticed that the games start a few days before the official opening. This mainly applies to team sports (such as football) because the period of the competition is longer than the duration of the Olympiad. This happens at almost all the Olympics, both winter and summer.

I know that competition starts before official opening. And that was I dont understand. Why not then make duration of Olympic games longer, instead of running games before start? That would give some extra rest day for athletes.

As a hockey fan, I remember that game for gold happens usually on Sunday. And one team advances to final on Thursday, other on Friday. Always one team has one day less rest. If they increase duration of games, it might turn that both team will get same time for rest.

This is a situation that happens in all Olympic games, summer and winter. There are only 1 or 2 competitions, which have very long qualifiers. So that the worship of the tournament is always the same, despite new competitions entering.

Honestly, I don't see that too serious, when it's just a matter of qualifying, a competition that will last the entire period of the Olympic Games. But I understand, that it would make sense to open the games earlier, but then there were no competitions to fill so many days. It's a balance they found for these sports that last longer.

Only few competition which is longer and don't fit into that 2 weeks of Olympics starts before opening ceremony. It's mainly curling, women ice hockey, or football in summer Olympics. Probably it's not worth to start whole Olympic Games earlier because of few competition.
And I think you're wrong about hockey, football or other team sports semifinals - it usually happens on same day. For example, in 2018 they played both on same day, so, none of teams didn't got extra day rest.

In general, it is clear that the organizers of the Olympiad hold a number of team competitions before the day of the opening ceremony of the Olympiad.  Otherwise the games would go on for too long. 
But there is also a negative point here.  I think that the absolute number of people in the world think that only after the opening ceremony the games begin.  And this is generally logical.  Then some fans are surprised because they miss certain stages of the competition.  But, really, whoever follows their favorite team is aware of this "paradox"

It is impossible to make a tournament of the same length for all participants, the organizers choose the optimal length. As for the different number of rest days, it is wrong to consider only the number of rest days before the final - the calendar is designed in such a way that the difference in the number of rest days between the finalists is minimal. If we take the entire distance of the tournament, then for example it is 30 and 31 days - this is an insignificant difference to talk about injustice.

This question of two semi-final games being on different days does not happen in the Olympic games.

Usually this type of situation only happens in football competitions. And teams don't usually complain about that situation. Because as you say and very well, in a tournament held in 30 days, it's not 1 day that will make a big difference.

They are just ordinary people like us and have same strength like we have. Let them come in Olympics and with time when things get matured, may be we see some policies for them. Right now they are in phase of inclusion in Olympics. I am sure Olympics committee have some policies regarding there inclusion. 

Maybe in winter olympic sports there is not so huge gap between such athletes, but during summer olympics there was a case during weightlifting.
Transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was the first athlete to participate. You think this is fair? He/she did not won a gold medal, but he/she is having worlds gold medals. They are ordinary people, but their strength is different. In gym, I never saw women lifting same weight as men. If a transgender participates in biathlon, dont you think he might have slightly more stamina?

Laurel Hubbard has edge over other weightlifter but still she couldn't won any medal. Can you please tell what sort of edge she has over other weightlifter's? There are not many transgender in sports and I have seen very few in my life. They have strengths just like normal people so there is nothing to worry about there inclusion.

Try to arm wrestle your mom and dad and find out who has more strength. For me, Laurel was like a man between women. I might be wrong, I might be an idiot, but that is how I see them. I think his/her muscles, ligaments and joints were more developed.

One of the competitions that has already been taking place is Curling.

I found it interesting to note that in three games already completed, both the USA and Canada managed to win only 1 and by the minimum margin. How are these two countries, traditionally good at this competition, performing so poorly? (This in the Mixed Doubles category.)

I think that this is simply due to the fact that curling has become more and more popular in recent years and, accordingly, there are more and more good athletes and teams. It is this competition that has led to the fact that teams traditionally strong in past years begin to lose, giving way to new stellar curling

I would like to add that bobsleigh is becoming more and more popular also, as this year there will first women monobob races. I dont remember women participating in world and other championships either.

Also I cant remember that I saw nordic combined before. What it this? Mixture of biathlon and ski jumping? Interesting to see how this is going to be. First they jump, then change skies and race? This is going to be exciting to watch, as if someone is bad at jumping, he can improve results by speed skiing.

No one argues that they are ordinary people, but if a woman has a man's body, then she has an advantage over those women who have a female body. You will not dispute the fact that men on average are significantly superior to women in physical strength? It is for this reason that women have their own separate competitions, and now because of the politics that mixes transgenders with women, women are suffering because it is mostly transgenders who win prizes because of their physical superiority.

I don't know the details but surely the Olympics organisers must be aware of this fact too. There must be some SOP adopted on inclusion of transgenders in the game. They are neglected community of our society and we must welcome there inclusion. Such discussions will only discourage them.

Bobsleigh, skeleteon or luge is interesting sport - you need to have big balls to ride down in such big speed. It will be interesting to see Jamaica bobsleigh in Olympics. I think they don't participate in boblseigh World Cup, so, they will come to Olympics without much practice.
Nordic combined is old sport, it is in Olympics for long time already. It's mixture of skiing and ski jumping, not biathlon. But you described it correct. These sports is so different that is very difficult to be good at both.

They have already participated in 1993 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106611/). I would not say they dont have much practice :D

But jokes aside, lets congratulate Norway with their first gold medal this year in Women's 7.5km + 7.5km Skiathlon (https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/noc-medalist-by-sport-norway-gold.htm).

The pages I visit for sports news are flashing with Olympic timetable changes due to covid... Some athletes leave their countries healthy, and when their plane lands, get covid confirmed... Some training sessions are postponed or cancelled due to covid... Already many changes in team rosters...

This is not surprising, in this winter sport, as in many others, there are always many winners from the Scandinavian countries.   :)
Of course, congratulations to Teresa Johaug from Norway on her very first gold meda!!!
And I would also add congratulations to the Russian athlete Natalya Nepryaeva for the silver medal and to the athlete Teresa Stadlober from Austria, who took 3rd place.!!!

Norway got another gold medal. They won in biathlon mixed relay. It was very interesting race. Strong wind made shooting difficult for athletes and they missed a lot. At one point even USA were in 2nd place, but after all they finished in solid 8th place. France won silver, Russia - bronze, despite that they had over 20 seconds lead after last exchange

Yeah, I know. But I mean that they don't participate in regular competitions during the season

It is reported that among the athletes at the Olympics in the last 24 hours alone, 25 new cases of covid-19 infection have been detected. Another 20 cases are other persons from the team escort who do not directly participate in the competition.  
If this continues, then the strongest athletes or even teams may leave the competition.  
It's a shame, but, alas, these are the consequences of this damned pandemic. :(

Norway as always dominates in biathlon. By the way, has anyone made bets on this race? Due to a busy day with football, I missed this event, but I would like to know what were the quotes for the victory of the favorites. Biathlon, thanks to such a random factor as shooting, is a very dynamic sport and, in my opinion, is well suited for betting.

The 1st day has been concluded and we already have medals.

These are the results so far.

https://i.imgur.com/GaUUNa0.png

Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Not a big surprise a nordic country is already ahead.

On Sunday we will have more medal events - alpine and cross county skiing, freestyle skiing, ski jumping, snowboard, speed skating and luge. Also, figure skating team competition will continue, but it's completely not my sport.

Usually I don't on biathlon.It's just too tricky because of shooting, especially in such conditions like in Beijing. You can predict who will be fastest on the track, bu shooting is unpredictable. I didn't bet on today's race, but for example on womens 15km individual race, win of favorite Marte OLsbu is rated @4.55. Following athletes is listed @6.84 and @8.49.
On biathlon I would prefer H2H bets.

Yes, no big surprises. Not only from Norway, which is already ahead, but also from the other countries that already have medals.

Perhaps Australia won the bronze medal, is a surprise. But nowadays, even countries that traditionally don't have snow, but have money, can help athletes train with better infrastructure or even take them to other countries for that.

China is at no 3. Most important thing is that USA is not in top position in medal table , so far they have only won a bronze medal and now are at no 10 position. I was interested in Alpine skiing but its postponed, Alpine skiing-Men's downhill postponed after high winds (https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/alpine-skiing-mens-downhill-start-delayed-due-wind-2022-02-06/)

China has made a huge impact all over the world. From the construction of superb stadiums to the competition. But seems like Norway has taken a lead. Norway claimed two gold medals on Saturday to take its all-time gold tally to 134 -- that's 29 more than the United States, which sits in second on 105. (https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/05/sport/beijing-winter-olympics-day-one-spt-intl/index.html)

Today is the second day of the Beijing Olympic Games and we can see some of the favorites slowly rising on the table. In terms of total medals won, Russia (Team ROC) is currently in the lead, while the Nordic countries, Norway and Sweden, are still at the top in gold medals won.

This is the final order after the second day is over:
https://i.imgur.com/uZg0uFQ.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

I just watched the 4th and final run of the mens sledding competition and everything went as expected there with Johannes Ludwig as the winner of the gold medal. He was the dominant athlete over the whole season and he totally deserved to win the olympics too. He had a pretty big lead with more than 0.1 seconds before the last run but you can never be to sure in sledding as a single small mistake can change everything but he managed to keep his nerves together.
I also watched the short programm of the female ice skaters yesterday and i have to say that the performance of that 15 year old russian girls was absolutely amazing and on a whole nother level than the rest of the competition.

The Chinese may not mind the boycott but they will not forget it. Seem very immature to boycott a friendly competition.


Having a hard time watching Ice skating. It's a breathtaking sport. While I expect something will happen like a girl will flip and fall I'm hoping she'd successfully make it. 15-year-old girls with arms so slim it felt like they will break any moment.

Which betting site are you betting for Ice hockey?  It's not at stake.com, we can see on stake are the Alpine, Biathlon, and Freestyle Skiing.

Betting sites may be part of EU and USA boycott that's why they are not listing winter Olympics games on there websites. I was on stake.com but couldn't find any event related to winter Olympics, I was interested in Alpine. Can you share link where I can bet on Alpine?

Yes, I understand the problems of random biathlon results. But from a betting point of view, it's not so bad. It's like betting on friendly matches in football. In fact, everyone can win, regardless of the strength of the teams, so often bets on the underdog are profitable because sooner or later they win and the odds for their victory are large.

After 2nd day of Olympic games, 16 countries already won at least one medal. New Zeland won 1st ever Gold medal in Winter games. It was won by Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in women slopestyle.
On Monday women individual biathlon race is most interesting for me. Also, I will watch ski jumping, luge and alpine skiing (if this event won't be postponed again because of weather conditions. Also, it's final day of figure skating team competition.
You must be kidding if you say that sportsbooks would boycott Olympic Games because political reasons. I don't know how you searched, but I can find all Olympics events on Stake and Alpine skiing is listed on the top of All Sports. Other crypto sportsbooks aslo have it.

Wait, what? You don't gamble at the 1xbit scam casino you're promoting? I'm shocked.
And, to suggest that there are no Olympics events on Stake is utter nonsense. Do you post just so you can fulfill your signature quota?

Norway and Sweden are at top position with 2x gold each. I would say I am not betting since I don't know much about these games. I am only interested in curling event and today we have semis of curling mixed double. Italy vs Sweden and England vs norway. Chance for norway to grab another gold.

It seems that Norway wanted to take a break from the gold medals. We now have the ROC - Russian Olympic Committee, with more gold medals.
And it is interesting to note that the US has yet to win any gold medals.

https://i.ibb.co/h8v4Lpx/oi-top.png

I just watched the mixed competition of ski jumping and that was one of the weirdest competitions that i have ever seen and a really bad advertisement for the sport. There were 3 teams that had big chance to win a medal that were disqualified because the suits of the female athletes where to big. Therefore Germany, Austria and Japan have all been disqualified. In the end Slovenia won the gold medal, which was to be expected because they were the big favorites to win this one before, but the second place of Russia and the third place of Canada where a total surprise and were only possible because of the bans of the other nations. I guess no one placed a bet on a podium like that.

Sweden were pretty good today they pushed into first place after winning gold at Ski Alps.
The competition is getting more interesting now because indeed they are following each other in the medal tally.
But what happened to Norway today? are they holding back? There is no significant movement from them at this time. although indeed they only lost 1 gold medal from the top team but they are now in 6th position

Actually, on the third day, Sweden again topped the gold medal standings. Skier Sara Hector has justified her role as the favorite by winning the women's giant slalom race, giving Sweden its third gold medal.

https://i.imgur.com/BAn0ELV.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

There was big WTF moment in women hockey today. Russia and Canada played with face masks because Covid test results of Russia didn't arrived until the game. It's something beyond ridiculous to play hockey with - like it would protect you in game where you always have close contact:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/beijing/2022/02/07/canada-russia-mask-game-delay-beijing-winter-olympics/6687649001/
In women luge competition there was at least 3 crashes, including one of favorites from Germany. Luckily nobody weren't hurt seriously, but this track looks dangerous.
Yeah, at first I didn't even understood what's going on. From what I read they used same suits in individual competition, so, it's very strange that it become not ok to use after few days. It's true that such podium is possible only in such occasion

I think the same, if a casino is not offering bets on Olympic events then it is unlikely this is because of political reasons and it has to do instead with the inability to offer those markets or simply they do not think they can turn a profit and decided to not offer those games.

After all at the end of the day casinos are a business and as long as what they are doing is not illegal then they have no reason to forfeit a possible source of income.

Apparently, there are very specific rules regarding equipment, to prevent lighter athletes from having advantages. Therefore, the equipment must be adjusted to the athlete's weight.

The fact that they used the same equipment the day before, and were not penalized, may be related to the weight of the other athletes or not having been detected by the juries. I do not know...

But from the looks of it, these teams have been having equipment problems throughout the season. That's why I think they're already getting into that stubbornness issue and in that sense, I think it's good to have been penalized. They're trying to cheat the rules.

Winter sports are already known, for athletes trying to beat, you can't pass up now, when they are caught breaking the rules.

Highlights from Day 4 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Jonna Sundling wins the cross-country skiing gold medal for Sweden.
Matthias Mayer wins the super G and snowboarder Benjam Karl wins the parallel giant slalom for Austria.
In men's figure skating, USA's Nathan Chen sets a new world record.
Esther Ledecka wins first gold for Czech Republic in snowboarding.
Gold for France's Quentin Fillon Maillet in the men's 20km individual biathlon.
In the men's 1500m speed skating event, Kjeld Nuis (Netherlands) defends his Olympic title.

Olympic Medal Table

https://i.imgur.com/lrJ4Oq8.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

What an amazing performance by Italy in the mixed Curling, it was my 1st-time watching an entire match of this sport and...

It is very funny to watch and a very technical sport to play.

I don't think sportsbooks are going to be political when it comes to olympic games. They are in the gambling business, so they won't be that emotionally affected by their government's sentiments. Unless, the government itself instructed them to boycott this event, which is unlikely to happen. And if the casino is not listing the event, it may not be political reasons but they think that it is not profitable from their end.

Finally tomorrow men hockey competition will begin. Without NHL players, but still, one of main events of Olympics. Just 2 games tomorrow - Russia vs Switzerland and Czech Republic vs Denmark. Both games have clear favorites, so, I'll put parlay on Russia and Czech Republic wins.

It was somewhat predictable - she was one of favorites to win. I still can't forget 2018 Olympics when she won gold medal both in snowboarding and skiing giant slalom. It was something incredible because she mainly focus on snowboarding. Will she participate in skiing giant slalom this time?

Indeed, it was very solid performance from Italy. I haven't watched mixed curling before, so it was strange that athlete who release stone then start to sweep ice himself.
In terms of strategy and technical skills it reminds me snooker a bit.

it's fun to watch short track. Continuous action and sensation, and there have been quite a few falls. That makes it extra fun. Skating is a lot less fun to watch. Those short distances are still OK, but if you're going to watch the 5000 meters then it might be best to do that with a beer in your hand, or 2. Plenty of time to eat it. I am curious who will finish at the top in the medal table. China?

Gambling for the house is a business. Here political games won't be prioritised. The team analyse whether adding specific games will bring profit or not. If thats profitable, the platform adds it. Apart from this, some sites used to run polls and add games according to the polling results. Just because few games weren't added, we can't tie it to the government or political situation prevailing in specific country.

It is interesting to note how the medals are mostly being won by European countries. Neither the United States and Canada have managed to enter the top 10. And only China and the Russian altetas manage to be in the midst of so many European countries.

Perhaps this shows that these sports are for athletes with more money, making countries with fewer resources, able to present more competitive athletes.

The women's giant slalom competition for Beijing 2022 already took place on Monday. Sara Hector (Sweden) won gold, while Federica Brignone (Italy) claimed silver and Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland) won bronze. I don't believe Ester Ledecka competed in that discipline this time.

I won't say that it's the case, yes having more money might play a role but the skills of an athlete is the biggest factor for the wins in the competition. To some degree I can sympathize though, I mean I came from a poor country that doesn't support their athletes which ends up with some of them going to greener pastures and end up getting representing the country that appreciated them.

I was seeing the medal tally on 9th Feb and as per your saying all medals were for athletes from EU with few going to China and ROC. No athlete from underdeveloped country was able to win any medal. Winter games are expensive as they require specific environment which is not in everyone reach.

A good start from Germany, Norway and the Netherlands - in the last Olympics, these teams took 2nd, 1st and 5th place respectively, apparently they are going to repeat their success at least. The rest of the favorites like the US and Canada will have their say a little later, I think that in order to more or less represent the overall position of the teams in the distribution of places, we must wait until at least a third of the medal sets are distributed.

Look, it will be very difficult for an athlete from Africa to participate and be competitive in the Winter Olympics. For that, he needs to live in countries that have the conditions to practice winter sports and, in turn, have support to be able to make a good preparation.

I'm not saying that poorer countries can't participate and even win some medals. But in winter games, this factor is very noticeable. Because everything in itself is expensive: the equipment, the training places, etc.

Big scandal in Olympic games. Russian figure skating sensation 15 year old Kamila Valieva got positive doping test which was given prior game:
https://www.givemesport.com/87970909-winter-olympics-figure-skater-kamila-valieva-is-centre-of-russian-anti-doping-test-investigation
If it's true, she won't be punished very strictly because she is younger than 16 years. But she will be banned from further competitions and Russia will lose medals in team competition.

---

Start of hockey tournament was interesting. Russia struggled against Switzerland and won just 1:0. Olympic games debutants Denmark surprising beat Czech Republic 2:1


I think we should count Russia as European country too. It's nothing surprising that European countries dominate. They have best infrastructure, suitable weather for winter sports and not that much problems with money. Also, winter sports in other continents isn't that popular, so less people participate in such competition. Though, for USA and Canada these Olympic games is big disappointment so far.

It looks different to the games without stands. Well, there are stands, but only with team members and staff. There's not much to it really, but there's no other way. No atmosphere at all. Some athletes get a boost from the public, normally it is also full of Chinese, who benefit a lot from that. China has good athletes in all areas in this tournament.

ya.ya.yo!

Highlights from Day 5 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Gold medals for Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt move Germany to the top of the medal table.
Norway's Birk Ruud claimed gold in men's freestyle skiing big air final at Big Air Shougang.
Slovakia's Vlhova wins alpine skiing gold in the women's slalom run.
First gold for the USA goes to snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis.
Germany's Vinzenz Geiger wins gold in Nordic combined .
Hwang Daeheon wins gold in short track skating for the Republic of Korea.

Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/vh7iZxc.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

It is somewhat surprising that Germany is now at the top of the medal table. I expect America, Russia, China and possibly South Korea too high. The last one I'm not quite sure. We have only just started playing, most sports are on the ice now such as skating and short track. I personally like the summer games a bit more. But, its good to see that this Olympics were not cancelled.

Yes, in one day Germany went from 3 gold medals to 5 medals. Amazing, I wasn't expecting it. But we still have a lot of games ahead and there may be more changes in the medal table.

An interesting point is also the fact that the US finally appears in the Top 10. I don't know if it's because of the pandemic or because the games are in China, this year things don't seem to be going very well in the US.

Norway has already surpassed Germany in the number of medals due to the fact that Norway, with equal gold (5) and silver (3) medals with Germany, also has 4 bronze medals, which Germany does not have.  
And by the way, USA also rose in the medal standings to 5 place.
 :)

Muddy history. She has not yet been suspended and there is no final decision on her case, judging by the fact that she returned to training, it is likely that the violation will not be recognized as "completed". I heard that the US team is most outraged about this situation, since in the event of the disqualification of the Russian team, the gold will go to them.

Finally Team USA gained few position on medal table. At first I thought they came with a weaker roster due to covid. They often show good results at the Olympics, but they are on 5 place now.

Usually the host get lots of medals, but China got only 5 medals and their overall position in medal table is 12 today. I think they are better at summer Olympics.

Who do you think will get most medals this time? Norway were first last time, second were Germany, Canada was third. This time Canada has only 10 medals and takes fourth place.

I'm not surprised that the Americans are most outraged, they won silver in the event!  :D
As I see it, the issue here is that a young Russian figure skater, Valieva, was tested for doping well before the Olympics officially started (actually several weeks ago). This raises questions about why her results were not available to the public until after the Russians won their gold medal on Monday.

Is there some sort of running involved in these Winter Olympics? One of my coworkers was telling me that they turned on the TV the other day and there was some sort of race, but I’ve always been under the impression that that’s all summer Olympics stuff ? Anyways on a side note hard for me to support these games in any way being that China is hosting.

This day surprised me yesterday because Norway can replace Germany's position to be number 1.

https://i.imgur.com/DbLIuk7.jpg

This Olympics will give more surprises because we still have 10 days later to see the end. Some countries cannot defend their position and replaced by other countries. I wonder what next countries will replace the position. Can Norway defend its position or Germany replace and be the number 1? It is still a big mystery.

This is not surprising at all, if you see medal tally of PyeongChang 2018 (https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/pyeongchang-2018/medals)  South Korean then Norway and Germany were at no 1 and 2 position with 14 Gold medals each while USA and Canada were at no 3 and 4 respectively. USA which was very down in initial days is now at no 4 position with 4 Gold medals. There are 10 days still left, may be in coming days Canada also jump up.

It doesn't come as a really big surprise, Scandinavian countries have always been extremely diligent medal winners at the Winter Olympic Games. In fact, Norway is a record eight times' gold medalists' already, with a staggering 132 gold medals! ^{[wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Olympic_Games#All-time_medal_table)]} That's not all. They won 368 total medals at the 23 editions of the games to date.

Germany always have been pretty strong in the winter olympics. Back in the olympic games of 2018 they were also on the second place after the end of the games. So it's not really that surprising that they are doing pretty well so far again, even though they probably won't win any medals in the ice skating competitions again this year, which is a sport where Germany always won a lot of medals in the past, but somehow they don't have real world class athletes there nowadays. I think it can be a close race again between Norway and Germany for the first place of the medal table this year again, but Norway probably will be first again.

It is rather strange that there is still no final court decision regarding the medals and punishment of Valieva. Given that this is her first sin, she will most likely get off with a disqualification for several months. As for the distribution of medals, in my opinion, the longer the decision is delayed, the more difficult it will be to change the results later. It looks like the US will stay with silver  ;D

Not most interesting day in hockey. Favorites achieved easy wins, only Sweden had difficulties with Latvia.
Congratulations to Latvia for winning first medal - bronze in luge. Germany continue to dominate, another Gold, Austria took silver. BTW, mixed relay in luge is fun thing to watch.

Yeah, this story looks isn't easy to make decision because Valieva is younger than 16 years and rules is a bit different for them.

Your friend probably confused something. There is no running events in Winter Games. Events which is most close to running is skating and skiing.

Highlights from Day 6 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Germany claim third consecutive luge team relay gold. (This gold in the luge puts Germany at the top of the medal table!)
Rocket man Nathan Chen wins gold for USA in men's singles skating.
Irene Schouten wins 5000m gold in record time for the Netherlands.
Saveh Shemshaki, an Iranian Alpine skier, is the first to fail a doping test in Beijing.
In a thrilling SBX photo finish, Alessandro Hämmerle wins another gold for Austria.
Norway's Therese Johaug wins gold in the 10km cross-country skiing.
Austria's Johannes Strolz wins the men's Alpine combined gold.
American snowboarder Chloe Kim makes history with gold in Women's snowboard half pipe.

Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/J1tgZNW.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Most likely, your coworker was telling you about cross-country skiing. This is a very popular Nordic skiing discipline and one of the original Winter Olympic sports. The sport is sometimes referred to as "ski running" or "ski marathon" depending on the country's language.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/%D0%94%D1%91%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%9B%D1%8B%D0%B6%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BD_2015.jpg
Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-country_skiing_(sport)

But still, that surprises me as in Olympic 2018, that is final result while this Olympic, every country have at least 9 days to get more medals. If they can be winners in many sports, of course, they will get the medals. Otherwise, their position will replace by another country.

The competition between Germany and Norway or USA and Austria has become tightened because of trying to collect more medals from the sports. With 9 days left, every country needs to try hard to win every game. I expected to see another surprise from Austria, USA or even Netherlands.

While Germany still leads the position. But Austria now has totals 14 medals.

I think it's not about age, but about the fact that the decision regarding the individual athlete can affect the result of the team competition.
As for the punishment, I read about similar cases, and for those who got caught for the first time, the most severe was 2 years, and the usual punishment was several months of disqualification.

Norway and Germany both have 6 medals but norway total medals are 14. I am not betting on winter Olympics since I dont know much about these winter sports but I really liked watching them. Meanwhile, Switzerland Lara Gut-Behrami became the first ever women of her country to win a gold in women’s Alpine skiing Super-G. (source (https://olympics.com/en/news/behrami-wins-gold-in-beijing-2022-alpine-sking-super-g)).

But their Gold and Silver are more than Norway. On the list, you can see that Germany has 7 Gold and 4 Silver while Norway only has 6 Gold and 3 Silver. But Norway gets 5 Bronze while Germany does not have it. But still, Germany's position in Gold is better than Norway's, so it is no surprise if Germany takes the first position. While the Netherlands and Sweden have the same Gold amounts, we can wait if the Netherlands can defend its position at the number 3 or replace other countries.

Source: https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/

Germany is now leading with 7 gold and Norway is at no second with 6 golds. There are 7 or 8 days still left in the game so medal tally will change in coming days. USA had a slow start but on day 6 they are at number six with 4 gold.
Anyone following ICE hockey? Canada Women beat Sweden 11-0 and got there position reserved in semis.

Highlights from Day 7 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

With Christopher Grotheer's win in men's skeleton, Germany adds its 7th gold medal.
American snowboarding legend Shaun White broke down in tears after his last ever competitive run at Beijing Games
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin rediscovers her rhythm in Friday's super-G
Finland's Iivo Niskanen wins gold in the men's 15km classic
U.S. women's hockey team advances to semi-finals with victory over Czech Republic
Olympic gold for Japan as snowboarder Ayumu Hirano wins half-pipe


Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/aHk0K6a.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Did Germany overtake Norway with more gold medals? Look, this is what I wasn't expecting. But there are still many medals to be distributed. We'll see how this fight goes.

It's interesting how the US is already catching up with the gold medals, whereas Canada is strangely not in the top 10 of the gold medals.

In hockey tournament Russia achieved another difficult win, this time they beat Denmark 2:0 and they directly qualified to 1/4 final. Tomorrow very early in morning Canada and USA will play - one of main games of hockey tournament, Canada are considered as quite obvious favorites.
Germany dominate in skeleton, same like luge - gold and silver in women competition and surprisingly China took bronze.
Also, tomorrow we will have men 10 km biathlong sprint, men medal events in skeleton and snowboard cross of mixed teams.

I'm not very familiar with figure skating, but in other sports team competitions like relay in swimming or athletics, if one athlete get caught with doping, whole team get disqualified and they lose medals. While this story looks unclear and one of reasons why is that doping regulations for athletes under 16 years is a bit different. Also, doping test was taken few month before Olympics, so, it's strange why it took so long to get results of it.

With 7-8 days remaining before it all ends, all countries will definitely try even harder to increase the amount of gold, silver and bronze. It will looks hard for every country because they all want to be the top.

I do not following ICE hockey but that could be interesting to watch the game.

Every big event will surprise the audience so it is normal if we do not expect to see a country that can be in the top position. But some commentators maybe say many things, including being a whistleblower to blow up the news. It seems Canada is still trying hard to lift the position so I wonder where Canada's position is in the final results.

Germany is leading with 7 gold while Norway and USA are at second and third slot with 6 and 5 golds. Surely usa is now in a position to take no 1 slot as 6 days still left. Canada is not in top list, may be they have not sent there full strength squad for participation in this Olympics aimed boycott (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6339061).

I don’t understand why there are always some claims against Russian athletes, then these are some continuations of doping scandals, then this is a ban on performing under the national flag.  
In general, the Olympic movement has turned into some kind of political rather than sports struggle.  And this is very upsetting, I want to watch fair competitions, and not these asshole showdowns.

Member of the International Olympic Committee Richard Pound (Canada) called on Russia to miss several Olympic Games because of the ongoing cases of doping among Russian athletes. He stated this on February 12 in an interview with Reuters.

  “At a certain moment, when a country is absolutely incorrigible, you find yourself in a situation where this country needs to take a time out. We could say: we can help you. You have a problem. We'll help you focus on it. Take time out for one, two or three Olympics until you have it all under control. But the Russians don't help themselves because they have absolutely no remorse. They don't admit anything, they appeal against every decision. I think the approach was probably too lenient to allow them to act as the Russian Olympic Committee,” Pound said.

That's what the crazy nonsense of the old senile. They just mock Russian athletes.
What kind of Olympics is a politicized disgrace!!!

Highlights from Day 8 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Germany remains on top of the medal table.
Germany's Hannah Neise wins women's skeleton gold.
Johannes Thingnes Boe wins gold for Norway in the biathlon mixed relay.
In large hill ski jumping, old went to Marius Lindvik.
After winning gold at mixed team snowboarding, the USA sits third in the medal table.
China's Gao Tingyu sets speed skating record on its way to gold.

Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/4UPGtHT.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Another succesful biathlon race for Norway. Johannes Boe won sprint race. Despite that he missed one shot, at one point he had over 40 seconds advantage against others and he won confident. His brotherTarjei Boe won bronze. Quentin Fillon Maillet from France won silver. Interesting that there was very few biathletes who missed 0 shots, but they were slow on track and weren't able to fight for good places. Tmorrow there will be chasing race with 60 fastest athletes.
What a game between Russia and Czech Republic hockey teams. Game ended with Czech win 5:4 after oovertime. And it was meaningless game for both teams! 4th Czech goal was amazing - it was scored from 0° angle, though, it was quite big mistake by goalkeeper. In other game Denmark made another surprise and beat Switzerland.
Don't know how many of you watched Large Hill ski jumping, but I was amazed about one athlete - Simon Ammann from Switzerland - it was 7th Olympic games fro him. Amazing.

Olympics always were more or less political, just remember 1936, 1976, 1980 or 1984 games. Some people say that poltics and sports shouldn't be mixed, but poltics always been big part of sports. And IMO, if in place of Russia there would be some small country, they would be banned without any questions.

It is surprise to see USA can jump from number 6 into number 3 by adding 1 gold and replace Netherlands position while the other country is not moves from their position. As I say before, every country will try hard to compete with the other and be the winner in every sports. It will not stop because the other country will do the same. The clock still running and will not let the weak stay at the current position.

USA, Netherlands and Sweden differ only on silver medals they have same gold medals. One gold medal by each team can change there position.
USA men team has defeated Canada first time in decade. ICE hockey final is still left so usa has a chance to grab one more gold.

It certainly is. 
However, let's remember the last time Russia is to blame for everything!  In Tokyo, excellently performed gymnasts from Russia were wrongly sued, and now there is a scandal around the world's strongest female f gurist.  For some reason, it is with those who claim to be worthy medals.  And at the same time, all the rest and Norway and from Germany and of course from the USA - all athletes are absolutely clean.  I affirm that this is not the case.  And this is all a scam and not a fair game of dirty officials from the Olympic Committee. 
And also keep in mind how much more difficult it is to train and win for such Russian athletes who are practically being hounded.

15-year-old figure skater phenom Kamila Valieva from Russia recently tested positive (https://www.npr.org/2022/02/12/1080330180/how-did-the-anti-doping-system-for-the-beijing-olympics-break-down-so-badly) in doping test. You are right in saying that USA and its allies from EU are not touched by authorities in mega events like olympics. This clearly tells that games are no more neutral rather politicised. Russian athletes are representing there country under the acronym ROC, something very strange to digest for person like me.

What is ROC at the Winter Olympics? Why Russian athletes are competing at Beijing 2022 despite doping ban (https://www.google.com/amp/s/inews.co.uk/sport/olympics/roc-what-winter-olympics-stand-for-russia-country-ban-beijing-2022-athletes-explained-1441804/amp)

Indeed. So I guess that the USA can defend their position at number 3 but if the other country wins on some games and grabs one gold, their competitor will also have a chance to get a better position. Every country has a race to be at the top of the position while the events will soon end.

It will be more difficult for the player because they must use their best to win and beat the opponent. In this pandemic, watching the Olympics can entertain us while we are at home so it helps us to kill the bore.

Past Olympiad winners Norway and Germany each had 14 gold medals, with Norway topping the list with more silver and bronze medals. Unlike the Summer Olympics where the winner gets 40+ gold medals, the value of each gold in the Winter Olympics is higher and each medal has a strong impact on the distribution of places. It turns out that the winner of the Winter Olympiad in total gains less medals than the number of gold medals of the winner of the Summer Olympiad.

Norway still is the first.


Politics still is incorporated in every international event that the arrival of Putin in the ceremony was even frowned by some media. Surely the commission has faults here because Kamila Valieva was not protected her privacy she is a minor and was publicized. This is going to affect the child's mental health.

It was said that the result was from Dec 2021, the newer result that was submitted was negative which was conducted within 20days before the Olympics. Both recent doping tests in Europe which she also participated European skating championship and in Beijing were negative.

Competition between Norway and Germany tighten further as Norway is leading by margin of just one gold. Erin Jackson became the FIRST American woman to win an individual medal since 2002 in skating event. https://t.co/tTnHVmloQS

Majority like me watches Olympics from home and pandemic have no effect on us. As I don't have money to go and watch Olympics in other countries. Very few in the world has that much resources.

Highlights from Day 9 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Erin Jackson wins gold in women's 500m speed skating.
After Marte Olsbu Roeiseland wins the women's biathlon 10km pursuit, Norway moves back to the top of the medal table.
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt wins gold in men's giant slalom.
Cross Country skier Sergey Ustiugov wins gold for ROC in men's 4x10km relay.
France's Quentin Fillon Maillet wins men's 12.5 km pursuit.
The Netherlands set a new record in the women's short track speed skating 3000m relay.
Shaoang Liu wins gold in the 500m short track speed skating event for Hungary.

Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/QOWLCwR.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Politics will always be part of the games, after all athletes do not go to the games only representing themselves but show their affiliation to their country and in fact compete in delegations that represent their countries.

It is really sad, after all the games should represent the fraternity between the many different countries and instead what we get most of the time is the opposite, and shows the whole world how divided we really are and how those differences are making us to grow apart more and more as times passes.

The winter games are also pushed into the background a bit. When you watch the games you don't have the idea that these are the Olympic winter games. The focus of all the news these days remains on corona, even though the pandemic is now gradually coming to an end. It's great that those athletes prepare themselves for 4 years. Some athletes even only participate in a part/distance, if you are not at your peak then you have trained for 4 years for nothing.

not only 4 years of preparation but some are not first-timers here like they have been preparing all their life for this kind of event. anyway, the covid news will always be there as this is the reason why we don't have a very lively audience. only few spectators are allowed to witness the event. no fans from other countries are allowed. but i believe, next olympics will be different as the covid pandemic will soon turn to be endemic and most people will be fully vaccinated. so they may start accepting visitors and fans around the globe.

Sofia Goggia will race in the downhill racing.
He tried in these days and she has less pain.

Will she be able to get a medal? It will be a miracle if she does but she can do anything.

What a drama in biathlon women chasing race. Marte Olsbu won it by very solid margin - 1.36 minute. Elvira Oeberg was second, but main drama was about 3rd place - Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold was 3rd with 500m remaining, but then she felt very bad and somehow finished almost walking in 15th place. After race she was helped by doctors. While 3rd place was taken by her teammate from Norway Tiril Eckhoff.
In men race conditions were difficult - snow and strong wind. Johannes Boe had solid lead, but after all he missed 5 shots and finished 5th. His brother Tarjei was 2nd. Race winner is Quentin Fillon Maillet from France, Eduard Latypov - 3rd.
What a comeback by Finland hockey team. They were losing against Sweden 3:0 after 45 minutes, but they made amazing comeback, sent game to overtime and won game.
 They finished 1st in group, while Sweden advanced directly to 1/4 final as best 2nd team.

I would say it will be difficult as she is going down on uneven terrain with 80mph speed with her shredded leg. But she already won the medal by not giving up and that's the true meaning of Olympics. All the best wishes to her for her final downhill run.

Germany can replace Norway's position if Germany can win several gold medals because there is only one gold difference between Norway and Germany. But when compared to the number of bronzes won, Norway got more than other countries.

We should be grateful can watch Olympics events on television or from the internet because we do not have to go to that country and spend a lot of money.

Norway, Germany and USA are at top three positions and there is no confirmation that how final medal tally will look like since there there is difference of 1 gold only. As I am writing events of curling, freestyle skiing and nordci combined are in progress and we will see new medals on tally. Still 6 more days to go and for us to enjoy the games.

This top 3 is the most likely to get more medals from another. Perhaps Denmark or Sweden will still get their position better.

But Norway must secure first place. Germany should be in second. The third is that I have more doubts, but the US is well on its way.

It seems that all charges against Valieva have been dropped and tomorrow she will perform in the individual program along with all the other participants.
Valieva's headquarters came up with (or told the truth) a variant of how a prohibited substance could get into her body and they were believed. A difficult decision and in any case, many are already very unhappy with it.
But scandals (including doping) are an integral part of any big competition.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) gave decision in favour of 15 years old Kamila Valieva after dismissing appeals from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the governing skating body (ISU). Her minor age was the kay factor that turned the decision in her favor.  More about this news here (https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2022/2/14/russian-skater-valieva-cleared-to-compete-at-olympics)

Highlights from Day 10 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Norway remains on top of the medal table after Day 10.
The women's hockey team of Canada advances to the final.
Kaillie Humphries won the first-ever gold at the Olympics in the monobob.
Guillaume Cizeron and Gabriella Papadakis win gold in figure skating ice dance event and set new world record.
China's Xu Mengtao wins gold in freestyle skiing.
Austria won Olympic gold in the men's ski jumping event thanks to Manuel Fettner.

Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/FSojgjk.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Today there was first 2 heats of men bobsleigh. In 1st and 2nd places Germany already hgave solid lead. But finally we saw Jamaica bobsleigh team. They reached finish, but just after 2 heats they're already 4.20 seconds behind leaders. On the other hand, they're just 0.11 seconds behind another exotic country - Brazil, so they have chance not to finish last.
Tomorrow hockey playoffs will begin, we have Latvia - Denmark, Slovakia - Germany, Czech Republic - Switzerland and China - Canada. Slovakia - Germany looks msot difficult to predict, other pairs have obvious favorites.
Also, there is biathlon relay event for men and nordic combined competition.
Interesting stuff about her - until 2020 she represented Canada and won several medals, including gold. But now she is citizen of USA and now successfully represents her new country.
What is interesting, that unlike luge, skeleton or most of bobsleigh events where Germany dominate, in women monobob USA and Canada were best.

Today China is celebrating lantern festival which is more popular and is celebrated on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. Thi year it has happened today along with the Beijing Winter Olympics 10th day. Today it would be an enjoyable day for travel enthusiasts to see lanterns floating all around. However the players who are within the Olympic locations can enjoy from there, as players aren't allowed to get outside. Anyhow China is really taking big efforts and hosting the winter Olympics in a much better way.

After Monday's events, Norway extended their lead at the top of the medals table. However, it is still quite crowded at the top with Germany and the United States close behind.

Highlights from Day 11 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

The Norwegian Joergen Graabak won Olympic gold in Nordic combined.
A ruthless Slovakia knocked Germany out of the men's ice hockey tournament at the playoff stage, while debutant Denmark advanced to the quarterfinals.
China's Su Yiming celebrated his 18th birthday early by winning gold in men's snowboarding Big Air.
Canadian women's speed skating team wins their first gold medal in this event.
Norway retains their gold medal in men's speed skating - team pursuit, a feat never before achieved.

Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/KtJCB4T.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

So many interesting things happened today.
In hockey tournament Denmark wn against Latvia 3:2 after very good fight, Slovakia unexpected easy - 4:0 beat recent vice-champions Germany. Switzerland win against Czech Republic is another surprise. While Canada had easy life against China. Though, scoring 2 goals for China is good achievement.
1/4 finals already tomorrow - it's USA - Slovakia, Russia - Denmark, Finland - Switzerland and Sweden - Canada which is most interesting pair.
Jarl Magnus Riiber threw away golden medal in Nordic combined by simply going wrong way:
https://www.eurosport.com/nordic-combined/beijing-2022/2022/he-s-missed-shock-as-jarl-magnus-riiber-goes-wrong-way-to-throw-away-gold-at-beijing-winter-olympics_vid1633865/video.shtml
Eduard Latypov in biathlon relay had almost 1 minute lead before last shooting, but then he missed 5 (!!!) times and earned 2 penalty laps. Russian team finished just 3rd aftert that when they already had gold in their hands. Another gold by Norway, silver goes to France.
Kamila Valieva won gold in short program, despite doping scandal.
In men bobsleigh all 3 medals were taken by athletes from Germany. How unexpected :).
in women ski slopestyle Kelly Sildaru of Estonia took home bronze, first medal for her country in this Olympics. Mathilde Gremaud from Switzerland won gold.

And for Russian athletes this is not the first time. By the way Russia is banned for a few years from international competitions. Only the Russian Olympic Committee is participating in the Olympic Games, not being classified as representing the country.

If all this is confirmed, even the Russian Olympic Committee will run the risk of being banned. I hope you check this out soon, for the sporting truth.

I'm sure they will test it properly so athletes who cheat will not be able to do anything and be punished accordingly. This doping scandal has probably happened many times and happened in many events so it's not too surprising for viewers. But hopefully, this will not happen again in the next event so that it will not spoil the sports spirit of the other athletes.

Hopefully, there will be an announcement regarding the doping scandal to resolve everything properly. Using the current state of technology, I think the committee can get the results quickly and accurately.

I've bee so far behind following the news I didn't even realise there's an ongoing scandal with Russian athletes and dope again. Reading now the courts ruled she could continue to compete nevertheless but seriously, she's 15 and already taking performance drugs? I thought this free-for-all steroid culture died firmly in the 1990s. Guess I'm really out of touch.

P.S. I'm so behind I actually thought for days ROC was Republic of China.

P.P.S. Tried my best watching some events but Winter sports is really a bit dry for me.

I am also curious what happens next in this case. As far as i know she is allowed to start in the other competitions now. I also have to say, that even though there seems to be a doping issue with this russian athlete we should differentiate between this case and "real" doping. As far as i know she "only" took a medicine against an tonsillitis that was not allowed which i guess was not in order to improve her performance or something but by mistake. I mean i know that this is still an offence against the doping rules but it is certainly not the same as if she would have taken steroids or testosterone or stuff like that in order to increase her muscles.

Wednesday's Winter Olympics were jam-packed with action, with a full schedule of events.

Highlights from Day 12 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Norway still tops the medal table
Italy's Arianna Fontana sets new Olympic medals record with 500m short track gold.
Clement Noel wins gold in the men's slalom for France.
Gold and silver medals for Team USA in men's freeski slopestyle.
According to reports, the sample of Kamila Valieva contained three drugs for heart conditions.
China sets a new record for winter Olympics golds.
Finland win the women's ice hockey bronze medal for the 2nd consecutive time.
Germany's 10th gold by taking the cross-country skiing women's team sprint classic.
With gold in the men's team sprint classic, Norway extends its lead at the top of the medal table.
Swedish women's biathlon team wins 4x6km relay gold.
Johannes Strolz, of Austria, wins his second medal in the men's slalom to go along with his gold in the men's combined.
After beating the USA on penalties, Slovakia has reached the semi-finals in the men's ice hockey.
France's Clement Noel grabs the gold in the men’s slalom event.
Team Canada edges out Team USA 7-6 in women's curling round robin.
Team USA's Alexander Hall wins the gold for men's freeski slopestyle,

Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/6MhfcSj.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Superb Goggia managed to end in the second position after the injury she got 2 weeks ago.

She is one of the best Italian and World Wide in this sport in history.

Hey, guys, where are you? Olympics isn't over yet. Time to summarize what happned today.
In hockey, Slovakia made biggest surprise by beating USA. In 3rd period with less than 1 minute remaining they made score 2:2, send game to overtime and then to penalties. It was enough for them to score one penalty to win game. Russia had unexpected difficult game against Denmakr, butthey won it 3:1. Finland had no problems against Switzerland and won 5:1. 2 of their goals were scored to empty net. Sweden in very nervous game managed to beat Canada 2:0. So, we have all-European semifinals between Finalnd - Slovakia and Russia - Sweden.
Tomorrow there is women hockey final between main powerhouses USA and Canada.
Speed skating legen from Nentherlands Ireen Wust won her 13th her medal in winter Olympics and reached Ole Einar Bjoerndalen by total number of medals.
In women biathlon relay, Sweden won first ever golden medal, Russia were 2nd, Germany 3rd. Favorites Norway were just 4th after Tiril Eckhoff had disaster in shooting.
In skiing classic team sprint gold was surprisingly taken by Germany women team, while in men competition Norway dominate again.

Today it was the big stunt that America could not win Indeed the most striking moment was that the Americans with 5-3 powerplay and did not manage to exploit this then it became 5 against 5 again and just before time it became two against two with overtime reached. You should have expected America to score at least one goal with a 5 versus 3 that would bring the score to 3 versus 1 and that would have been the end of the game. I don't think there is a team Canada can beat that anymore. This Slovakia doesn't stand a chance against Canada. Even America went 4-2 against Canada in the group.

Now Norway can calm down because the difference in medals is already a bit far from Germany. But they still have to be careful because the German team could win another match and win gold, silver or bronze. As long as Norway can maintain their team spirit, they can win every game but it's not easy because teams from other countries will try hard. So the rest of these events will still be stressful for all countries because they could unexpectedly take other country's positions.

It is clear that Norway and Germany are the strongest countries with developed winter sports and, accordingly, with excellent athletes and teams.
I am embarrassed by the poor performances of athletes from the USA. Why do they show bad results. Perhaps the coronovirus affected the participation of the strongest athletes, but the fact remains.
By the way, Russian athletes perform very well at these Olympic Games, in the overall medal ranking they have 3rd place with 24 Olympic medals. True, there are only 4 gold medals among them.

But let's see, there are 3 more days before the end of the games.
 :)
And in general, I liked the way the Chinese organized them.

Team US were on fourth place in 2018 with 9 gold and total of 23 medals. In 2014 again fourth place with 9 gold and total of 28 medals. Third in 2010 with 9 gold and total of 37 medals. Right now they are on the third place with 8 gold and total of 20 medals. I would say that they show more stability than others :D I think they could get medals in figure skating and bobsleigh. In other events that are left medal table leaders will take gold probably.

Despite doping scandal with Kamila Valieva, were there any other big ones? Does anyone know?

USA haven't performed bad as they are 3rd on medal table with 8 gold medal. Still 2 to 3 days left in the game and they may grab some more medals. Norway and other scandinavian countries are always on top in winter Olympics.

Kamila Valieva misses the medal, Winter Olympics: Kamila Valieva misses out on podium as she finishes fourth (https://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-olympics/60399342). Despite all controversies she came back, fight and finishes forth in skating thats what the spirit of Olympics is.

The truth is that it is a shame about that athlete, we were all surprised that at only 15 years old she did everything she did, but doping makes everything go into oblivion and it is also seen as something embarrassing, and this is not good for the self-esteem of an athlete, I hope that she can recover from such a strong emotional blow, and that it does not become a trauma for such a young athlete and that the world does not judge her much, I am surprised to see the level of Norway in these games Olympics, and seeing some athletes of Latin American origin see them participate, of course they are not at the level of the leading countries, but it could be said that there is good material to make a respectable representation.

Once again, Norway proves that it is very strong in winter sports, being the country with the highest number of Gold medals. Germany, in second place, also proved to be very strong in this type of sport. The third place is yet to be defined between the USA and Sweden.

Although the games are not over yet, there shouldn't be too many changes to the top spots of the medal table.

Highlight of the day obviously was women figure skating competiton. Anna Scherbakova won gold, Alexandra Trusova was 2nd, but she wasn't happen about it and reacted very emotionally. Kaori Sakamoto took bronze. Kamila Valieva wasn't able to handle pressure, have fallen several times and was just 4th. After all, I just feel sorry what she had to experience in recent days. After all, she is just 15 years old kid and her coach is responsible for thing which happened.
What a disaster for alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin - she was favorite of Olympics, but she have fallen in all 3 competitions - slalom, giant slalom and alpine combined:
https://twitter.com/eurosport/status/1494235571887218692?
Canada women hockey team took gold after beating USA 3:2. They were leading 3:0 and controlled game most of time.
Tomorrow hockey semifinals - Finland - Slovakia and Russia Sweden. Finland is favorite on paper, while in other semifinal chances is 50/50. I just hate that first semifinal starts so early :/.

I think that these Olympics leave mixed feelings for Russia. Total number of medals is big, but they have just 5 golden medals. I also read somehwhere that they also lead by 4th place finishes, or so called wooden medals.

Norway is country with only 5.5 million inhabitants yet they dominate in every winter olympics not only this one. Norway were number one in  PyeongChang with 39 medals and finished second at sochi with 26 medals. They will dominate future winter olympics also since they live in extremely cold conditions throughout the year and winter olympics sports like cross-country skiing start from age of 2.

The Chairman of the International Olympic Committee raised the issue of limiting the minimum age of athletes allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.  After the story with the 15-year-old figure skater Valeeva, I think this is the right decision.  Such very young athletes should not participate for reasons of their still teenage psyche, which can be seriously disturbed by the stress of losing.

Good point. Summer Olympic gymnastics has age restriction for a long time. Athletes must be 15 years old minimum. The reason why this was introduced, because kids body and bones are much more flexible in the younger age. In gymnastics, when you are 19 (for example), you are already considered old and not able to do some elements perfectly. But this age restriction is a good way to cheat. There athletes, who were 12-13 years old IRL, and were 15 in passport.

Yes, without a doubt, they are the ones who are always in the best position to earn more in this type of sport. While in many countries children go to play football, these go to the ski slopes.

What is strange is that countries like Canada, or even the USA, are more competitive, as they also have excellent conditions to practice these sports.

However, for some reason, athletes from the USA and Canada do not show such achievements as athletes from the Scandinavian countries, As well as athletes from Germany and Austria. 
I don't even understand why Americans don't like winter sports so much.  The only explanation that comes to mind is that they prioritize American football, baseball and basketball. ;)  And the strongest athletes in these sports. 
Well, of course there is still the strongest Canadian hockey school. :)

We recommend that the age of athletes who are allowed to participate in the Olympics or other major events is from 17 years and over because there are considerations of psychological factors that might affect them, especially if they can't compete with other athletes. Yes, stress is one of the most common factors among teenagers. Even though experienced instructors will still coach them, they are still teenagers who have no experience and still need the guidance of their parents. Maybe a child of that age can be included in a regional or national level championship while continuing to see their mental and mental side. If they are ready to participate in a big event, they can participate and be prepared to go to the event.

Right, adding a comment on Norway. They now have 35 medals with 2 days ++ to go, reaching their target of 32 already. 15 gold too, 50% more than the next best (Germany). All to be expected, I guess? Am reading now that many countries and ROC actually build a strategy around getting just silver and bronze.


Well, to be fair, I've seen the stress and psyche of 20 year olds and they're not much better. I do agree there's a need for age category for youth too, though. Young talent needs to be protected, though even in professional sports, not all of them have an age minimum that's appropriate. Footballers playing senior games at 16 (the minimum I think in EPL) isn't very wise IMO.

Norway loading the medals tally table with 15 gold and still 2 days to go. Now it's very much clear that Norway will get first position.  Norway has now total of 368 medals in winter olympics. Norway is too good in Alpine skiing and results of some categories are still to come, so there are more Gold still waiting for Norway.

Any professional sport is violence against the body. And it's one thing if it's an adult's body and another if it's a child's body. This is a good proposal, but to be honest, it is unlikely to be accepted, since the existing training schemes prepare athletes for competitions almost from birth, no one will break these schemes. And in fact, children will not be protected in any way even if this proposal is accepted - they will be tortured long before the legal age for competitions with training and preparation.

I would say that winter games popularity among bitcointalk.org gambling community grew just because.of this thread. People in general are not much interested in winter games. Today's top headline was Kamila Valieva, as she finished 4th in skating after she was allowed to continue her winter olympics journey by CAS.

Highlights from Day 14 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

With 15 gold medals, Norway set a new Olympic record.
Russian figure skater Shcherbakova wins the women's single gold as Valieva finishes fourth.
After dominating the half-pipe final, China's Eileen Gu wins her second Olympic gold medal.
Sweden and Great Britain will face off in the men's curling final.
The 1,000m race is won by Japanese speed skater Miho Takagi, setting a new Olympic record.
Sweden's Sandra Naeslund wins gold in ski cross.
The ROC will face Finland in the men's ice hockey final.
Lidiia Hunko, a Ukrainian bobsledder, tested positive for a prohibited substance.


Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/jfJTYoR.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

This is why it is so devastating for those athletes when they suffer an injury, after all we are not talking about a few years of preparation, most of them have trained all their lives to have a few minutes and in some cases a few seconds to compete in the games.

And if to this we add that a great deal of the sports are not really popular and that most people only watch that sport during the olympic games this makes any injury even worse.

What a game between Russia and Sweden. Nothing surprising that it went to overtime and then to penalty shootout. Both teams made 16 penalty shots combined and Russia won after shootout. In other semifinal Finland managed to beat Slovakia 2:0. Their second goal was scored to empty net. So, we have final beteeen Russia and Finland.
Amazing win by Justine Braisaz-Bouchet in women biathlon mass start race. She got 4 penalty laps, but despite it she won - her closer opponents also made mistakes in shooting. Norway athletes Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland were 2nd and 3rd.
In men race, another gold was taken by Johannes Boe. He had 4 penalty laps, his opponents were better on shooting, but Boe was fastest on track. Martin Ponsiluoma is 2nd, Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen 3rd. In general, biathlong competition was awesome for Norway.
Olympic games is coming to an end. Tomorrow we have many finals in individual competions and bronze finals in hockey, curling and 2-woman bobsleigh.

China has gone up and it will be interesting to see whether china overtakes USA or not.
No USA and Canada, ROC to compete with finland in men's hockey final.
One of best thing about this Winter olympcs is that there are zero covid19 cases in this olympc. This show how well china has organised and managed the olympics. China has spent 8.8 billion dollars (https://www.ft.com/content/51f10d40-09b9-4b4a-9d76-9ecbcb69ca94) to host these games.

Speaking of medals. What were, for you, the surprise countries that managed to win medals?

For me it was a surprise to see Australian athlete Jakara Anthony, having won a medal from another in Freestyle Skiing.
But it was even faster for New Zealand to get two gold medals, in Men's Freeski Halfpipe and Women's Snowboard Slopestyle. In addition to other medals they got.

I agree that the age of more than 15 years is completely unsuitable for participation in such major international competitions.  17 years and more is much better suited, although young people of this age are still practically teenagers with a fragile psyche.  But 15-year-olds are just children, allowing them to experience such stress is not humane.  I think they will set an age limit after all.  Or as a compromise, for example - athletes over 16 years old.  This is true for figure skating, first of all.

It will not be easy for China to seize the position of the USA because the USA team itself will not want to give in to China. In the remaining matchdays, the competition is getting fiercer, while Norway might confirm that they can take their position as number one.

It was a surprise for us because China seems to be able to overcome Covid-19 and with that kind of budget, I think they have allocated it to various places around the area. But I'm still curious how they can do that even though many new cases of Covid-19 have emerged and their new variants in other countries.

Yes, applying a minimum limit for athletes will really help children under the age of 17 prepare themselves to take part in bigger events. Children under the age of 17 are still too unstable and can get higher stress, which can trigger their psyche later when they grow up. At least, they need guidance from adult people before they participate in the bigger events.

It seems that no one will be able to move Norway from the first team place. At the last Olympiad, Norway took first place, but in gold medals they were on a par with Germany, but in this Olympiad they completely dominate - the gap from second place is 5 gold medals.
China scored 8 times more gold medals than at the last Olympiad. Good progress, but it looks like cheating - the number of gold medals exceeds the number of silver and bronze medals in total.

Highlights from Day 15 of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Slovakia wins historic bronze in men's hockey over Sweden.
Team China's Wenjing Sui and Cong Han won gold, after 12-year wait, in pairs figure skating.
Sweden wins men's curling gold over Britain.
ROC's Bolshunov wins gold in the 50km cross-country race.
Belgian speedskater Bart Swings won the men's mass start, the country clinched its first Olympic gold in 74 years.
Nolte and Levi secure Germany's 11th gold in the two-woman bobsleigh


Olympic Medal Table (Top 10)

https://i.imgur.com/gfujEPZ.png
Source: https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

It's a shame the games are over again. There were many beautiful matches and beautiful events in between. Still, I'm more into the summer games myself. The time format is also not convenient for everyone, since China has a different time zone than Europe. You always keep it that way. I think the medals are a bit divided based on what to expect beforehand, I don't see any surprises. It is surprising that both Canada and America have no medal and therefore no winner, but the 2 best teams in the world.

ya.ya.yo!

It was historic match for Slovakia - it's first Olympic hockey medal in country history.4:0 result don't fully reflect game because last 2 goals were scored to empty net, but in general, this tournament wasn't succesfful for Sweden, despite that they were so close from the final.
Tomrrow is big final between Russia and Finland. There is no favorite, but I'm rooting for Finland.
decodx, 50km cross county skiing marathon was shortened to 28.5 km because of weather condition. Well, if Norway dominate in biathlon, Russia is main powerhouse in skiing. Tomorrow there is women 30km race scheduled.
Curling final between Sweden and UK was dramatic with extra end nedded where Sweden won. Tomorrow is women final between UK and Japan.
Another golden medal for Germany in bobsleigh, this time taken i 2-woman competition. Tomorrow they can take another gold in 4 man competion where two their teams lead after 2 heats.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but gymanstics have age limit, I think it's 16 years. But in other sports when younger athletes, especially women may have advantage against older opponents, there is no talk about age limit. For example in swimming medals is often taken by 15 years old girls. Or skateboarding - in recent Olympics I think there were some participants 132 or 14 years old.

During the previous season of winter Olympics it was Norway that won the medals and next is the Germany. This time too the same is happening. As China is the host nation they might've practiced well to grab more medals. China have got different practice methodologies which is very crucial. Maybe this could've happened prior, reason why there is a massive difference in the medals won.

Winter olympics 2022 comes to an end. Norway won most of the medals and with 16 medals they are at no one followed by Germany with 12 gold. What's astonishing is that China who was at bottom throughout the games finished 3rd with 9 medals ahead of there rivals usa with 8 medals.
Today's main news is Finland got there first ever gold in men's hockey as they beat ROC, final score was 2-1.

I enjoyed the games though there is only one participant from my country. Will catch this thread again in summer olympics.

One way or another, I'm sure there's a lot of cheating involved in China's success. From the point of view of normal logic, if there is a broad development in the country, then this leads to uniform success, the so-called organic growth. But when a team drastically increases the number of gold medals while the number of silver and bronze medals remains very modest, then it looks like cheating (or sniping certain disciplines, but in any case, these are nasty political games and not normal sports).

China can defend their position at number 3 while Norway still leads at number 1. Germany can not chase Norway position since the gap for their medals is too far to get. The USA needs to be satisfied with the number 4 positions.

This event will not forget by those who participate and they will be back in the next events. The closing ceremony is underway. The event shows that it is successful from the beginning until the end in the middle of this pandemic so we will see other big events coming soon.

Ah I arrived late to this. I've got Norway on an outright win on medals counts (should have also gone for them on gold medals count) so I won a nice... 1.11 bet haha. But it was part of a promo where I'd get freespins for every gold so that's where my profit's been coming from.

Summer's definitely going to be more exciting for us as we'll also have more stakes. My country has 2 athletes in Winter but they're just there to represent. No snow in my country ;)

Finland achieved deserved win against Russia and got first hockey Olympic gold medal in country history. After all, they were best team in tournament and only team undefeated.
Norway skiing star Therese Johaug in women 30 km race won gold with almost 2 minuted advantage against 2nd place. It helped Norway to reach new record with 16 gold medals. Until record was 14 gold medals.
In men 4-man bobsleigh Germany took another gold. I already lost count how many medals Germany took in bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.
Great Britain women didn't had any problems against Japan in curling final and took only gold for country in this Olympics.

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It was interesting Olympics, unfortunately there was doping scandal. Also, it was affected by Covid, but not that much that I was afraid of.
Not that much left to wait until 2024 Paris summer games. Next winter Olympics 2026 will be in Milan-Cortina. So, finally it will be convenient times to wwatch events for us in Europe :D.

Finally the event have come to an end. Norway kept the lead with 16 gold medals. Norway's Johannes Thingnes Boe, Biathlon keeps the lead as an individual to grab highest number of gold medals (4 gold). Even under the worst pandemic situation China managed to do the best in terms of infrastructure development and management. Right now the scenario is getting worse with Hong Kong. During this season 109 Gold, Silver and Bronze medals have been distributed to the winners of different games.

scandal will always be a part of olympics. but i also didn't buy the reasoning that valieva's excuse of accidentally taking her grandfather's heart medication. are you going to believe it? taking the meds that's not for you.. ::)
anyway, it created the noise so more eyes on this sports. not bad for marketing though.
but yes, the upcoming summer and winter olympics for sure will have a different ambience, and will accommodate live audience, by that time, the govt may even lift up the mask mandates.

Following 16 exciting days of action-packed competition, the closing ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympic Games in Beijing was held at the Bird's Nest Stadium. There will be many memories from the 2022 Winter Olympics. Records were set, and Beijing put on a spectacular finale to a games not without scandal and controversy. I look forward to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy. See you!

One thing we have to give credit to China in hosting these games is that there is zero covid19 cases throughout these Olympics. I wanna share few interesting facts from this Olympics.

Timothy LeDuc (https://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/timothy-leduc-920876?chrcontext=WMAQ), a USA based Figure Skater made history by participating as the first openly non-binary Winter Olympian.

It was Saudi Arabia and Haiti first ever Winter Olympics.

Erin Jackson (https://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/erin-jackson-850493?chrcontext=WMAQ) becomes first Black woman to win speed skating medal

In terms of medals, I don't think there were any big surprises, naturally Norway was the country that took home the most gold medals.

These olympic games were marked by several positive and some negative things.

Negatives, there were several scandals that involved some athletes and competitions.
Possibly, the games went better than many expected, with several records to be broken and a very positive and encouraging spirit of sportsmanship.

Another interesting thing was that the minimum age for participation began to be raised, something that until now had never been called into question, at least not with such prominence. I think that in the next Olympic Games, we will not have as many young athletes, as we have seen in recent years. Whether in winter games or summer games.

I have to agree with the minimum age for participation in Olympics.
This will lessen the exploitation among very young athletes.
I believe, one of the inspirations to raise the minimum age of participation to 17 from 15, is the Russian skater Valieva.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/sports/olympics/olympics-skating-valieva-age.html

The audience saw it live how she struggled and how the team reacted on her.
If the team would have been more warm on her, her frustrations would have been not too heavy to carry on her own.
Though we don't know what's happening behind the curtain, as we are only judging what's seen on live tv.

The winter games have always been my favorites, unfortunately I couldn't see them 100%, the same thing happened to me with the olympic games, especially due to the time restrictions, whenever there are some events in Asia the timetables for my country are very strong , and normally at those times they coincide with the rest, however I looked for some official channels to see the games live and direct, this type of event is better to see them live and pay the cable subscriptions required for it, I was really surprised by Norway the such an enormous level that they have reached in these sports.

It is known that when a country host the olympic games not only they invest a lot of money in new infrastructure, they also invest way more money on their athletes as they want to have a good performance so their citizens are happy to host the games.

And since China is so powerful and it has so many people and money then it makes sense they could obtain way better results than what they did in the past by putting such a huge effort into developing their athletes.

You are right, although the winter games had to cost a lot of money to China, I don't see why they didn't come first, of course, Norway is a country that has really earned all my admiration, but China and the USA surprise me a lot , on the other hand, a criticism of the USA for the performance they did is also good to give it to them, because I think that in my opinion they have lowered the level a lot, I do not know if it is due to the pandemic, or due to eventual situations, but I firmly believe that the USA It was one of the countries that they lacked.

The Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing kicked off with 12 medal events in Para alpine skiing and Para biathlon. People's Republic of China is currently in the lead with 5 medals won in Para biathlon and 3 medals in Para alpine skiing, while Ukraine is in second with 7 medals in Para Biathlon.

https://i.imgur.com/W4OhYEx.png
Source: https://www.paralympic.org/beijing-2022/results/medalstandings

The most touching moment of the day didn't involve a medal, as Belgian para alpine skier Linda Le Bon, participated in the visually impaired downhill event with her daughter, Ulla Gilot, who stepped in as her guide after her original guide was not able to race due to an administrative error.

The pair have barely had any time to train together but Le Bon still managed to finish sixth overall.

I haven't followed Winter Paralympic games yet and unfortunately there is no athletes from my country. For me it something amazing that Ukraine team found way how to arrive to China, considering what's going on in their country. But they not just arrived but 7 medals, including 3 gold just in one day. These people have so much strength.

Meanwhile there is good step from IPC as Russian and Belarus athletes banned from Winter Paralympics. Ukraine Paralympics team has so far done an amazing job at the games they are at no 2 with 3 gold. While countries like Norway and Germany are no where to be seen, this tells how much importance they gave to same sports when it comes to Paralympics.

They are the second country with the most medals, behind China. Really incredible!
I also didn't have the opportunity to compare it with other editions, to see if this performance is common or not, but given the scenario they are experiencing, it's already a fantastic feat!

These crisis situations sometimes become motivating elements for these athletes, who want to do everything to show how strong they are and it's a way to get attention! Strength to all Ukrainian athletes.

The stimulus can be positive or not...

On the other hand, it's necessary to think that these athletes have friends and family members fighting against Ukraine or trying to escape from the confrontation, how is it that these athletes are thinking that when they return to their countries they may never find their friends and family again!? This is sad and demotivating!

But I'm sure of one thing... in these games the whole world will be rooting for the Ukrainian athletes.

The world really has duel standards that need to be changed. In Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya the USA and west invasion was given false cover of uprooting terrorism and bringing democracy but now same is done to there ally by mighty power of Russia they are chanting slogans "Stop the war".

Ukarina finished 7th in PYEONGCHANG 2018 Paralympic Winter with 7 golds. Its not surprising if they are performing good in these winter olympics.

The Paralympic Winter Games - Day 3 review

https://i.imgur.com/VImckNc.png
Source: https://www.paralympic.org/beijing-2022/results/medalstandings

There was plenty of competition on day 3 of the Paralympic Winter Games, with Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and the first medals of the snowboard competition taking place. A total of 14 medal events were held.

The Paralympic Winter Games - The latest standings after Day 5:


https://i.imgur.com/cX7mTCP.png
Source: https://www.paralympic.org/beijing-2022/results/medalstandings

Cross-country skiing dominated the day 5 at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 with Brian McKeever claiming his 15th gold medal. According to the total number of medals won, China continues to be atop the Paralympic medal standings, with 10 golds, while Ukraine holds second place and Canada is third. Go team Ukraine!

It is true that we can always look at something from different perspectives and see what we want to see in them, however at least for the results we can see so far it seems the Ukrainian delegation is doing everything they can to at least bring a smile or two to the citizens of their country by being able to win so many medals, improving significantly from what we have seen from them on the previous editions of the games.

The Paralympic Winter Games - The latest standings after Day 6:


https://i.imgur.com/ZAn9qw1.png
Source: https://www.paralympic.org/beijing-2022/results/medalstandings

In wheelchair curling, defending champions China, three-time gold medallists Canada, Slovakia and Sweden will all compete for gold, since they all booked their spots in the semis.
Having won the giant slalom gold, Tiit Kiiveri is now Finland's first Paralympic gold medallist. Italian Rene de Silvestro took silver and China's Liang Zilu collected bronze.

The Paralympic Winter Games - The latest standings after Day 7:


https://i.imgur.com/qeFKAUK.png
Source: https://www.paralympic.org/beijing-2022/results/medalstandings

It has been an eventful day for China, as the host nation registered four gold medals to strengthen its position at the top of the standings.

I have a lot of appreciation and respect for athletes who participate in this event, but at the same time I have to say very honestly that there is a certain tension missing, because it is a considerable level lower than what you see. It is also a pity that very little media attention is given to it, otherwise more people would possibly follow all the matches in this tournament. For these people it has been extra hard work for the past 4 years because of their disability.

ya.ya.yo!

Agreed there is no media attention on it because not a lot of peoe will watch it long term.  Media needs clicks and views they really don't care what the content is.  I honestly didn't even know it was going on until I just seen this thread.  Big ups to all the participants, being the best at anything is never easy.

The Paralympic Winter Games - The latest standings after Day 8:


https://i.imgur.com/nY3oNTc.png
Source: https://www.paralympic.org/beijing-2022/results/medalstandings

It was an exciting penultimate day of the Paralympic Winter Games with 29 medals awarded in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ice hockey and wheelchair curling.

• The day belonged to Canada's Brian McKeever by winning an unprecedented 16th gold medal to become the most decorated male Winter Paralympian of all time.
• Austria's Aigner sisters, Veronika and Barbara, have dominated the vision-impaired para alpine skiing and crushed some more family goals to place 1-2 on the podium.
• Anna-Lena Forster, who finished her campaign with four medals, including a silver and bronze, won her second gold for Germany by winning the sitting title.
• Sweden's Ebba Aarsjoe added a second gold medal to her haul by winning the women's slalom standing.
• Chinese athletes dominated the cross-country middle distance finals, winning three out of six golds.

23rd June is celebrated as Olympic Day all around the world. On this day young and old people participate in sports activities, such as runs, exhibitions, music and educational seminars.

Olympic Day was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. The goal was to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.

Olympics.com (https://olympics.com/ioc/news/what-is-olympic-day-1)