Monthly Archives: January 2022

Hey, did you know its time for the Olympics again? Thats right, just seven months after the 2021 (ne 2020) Summer Olympics, the 2022 Winter Games will be held in Beijing starting on February 2.

Attendance will be sparse, as fans have largely been barred from attending, and diplomats from some countries, including the US, are boycotting the event over concerns about human rights violations in Chinas Xinjiang region. (US athletes are still competing in the events.) Crowds or not, theres still an eye-popping number of events.

If you want to catch many of them, youll need to find a way to pay tithe to the Olympian gods at NBC Universal. That means a TV subscription with NBC in it, or you can watch it on the NBC Olympics website or Sports app. The official Olympics channel will also be streaming live, provided you have an account with one of its many streaming partners like Xfinity, Dish, Spectrum, Verizon, and YouTubeTV, to name just a few.

You can also watch the games on NBCs Peacock streaming platform. Its $10 a month, or $5 a month if youre willing to deal with ads. (If youve forgotten what its like to watch TV with ads, believe me, they are infuriating.) If you want to watch each and every event (all 2,800 hours of them), check the official official schedule or NBCs schedule for times in your time zone. ESPNs also got a handy schedule, if you prefer that.

Collected below are a smattering of the big events, mainly the final matches that determine who gets medals. Depending on where you are, some of the times will be at odd hours, but rest assured that NBC will replay the highlights ad nauseum.

(Note: Unless otherwise indicated, all the times are Eastern Standard Time.)

Opening/Closing Ceremonies

Opening ceremony is February 4, starting at 6:30 am ET.

Closing ceremony is Feb. 20 at 7 am.

Bobsled

Finals for womens monoboba new event this yearare Feb. 13 at 9 pm. Two-person finals are Feb. 19 at 7:30 am.

Mens two-person finals are Feb. 15 at 7:50 am. Mens four-person run is Feb. 19 at 9:20 pm.

Biathlon

Relay for the mixed 6 kilometer medals is Feb. 5 at 3 am.

Womens 15 km individual finals are Feb. 7 at 3 am. Womens 7.5 km sprint is Feb. 11 at 3 am. Womens 10 km pursuit finals are Feb. 13 at 3 am. Womens 6 km relay finals are Feb. 16 at 1:45 am. Womens mass start 12.5 km finals are Feb. 19. at 3 am.

Mens 20 km individual finals are Feb. 8 at 2:30 am. Mens 10 km sprint finals are Feb. 12 at 3 am. Mens 12.5 km pursuit finals are Feb. 13 at 4:45 am. Mens 7.5 km relay finals are Feb. 15 at 3 am. Mens 15 km finals are Feb. 18 at 3 am.

Curling

Curling starts on Feb. 2 at 7 am and goes through the 19th.

Mens curling bronze medal finals are Feb. 18 at 1 am. Gold finals are Feb. 19 at 1 am.

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How to Watch the 2022 Winter Olympics - WIRED

All three athletes competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China call Carlsbad home.

CARLSBAD, Calif. Although San Diego is much more know for sending athletes to the Summer Olympics, the 2022 Winter Olympics will have some athletes from Americas Finest City. From bobsledding to snowboarding, you will absolutely be able to see some of your favorite San Diegans competing including the legendary Shaun White.

According to the roster of Americans heading to Beijing, the three representing the San Diego area hail from Carlsbad.

Snowboarding

Shaun White is known as perhaps the greatest snowboarder to ever live and he grew up right here in Carlsbad. The three-time gold medalist and four-time Olympian went to high school at Carlsbad High School.

Some of his career accomplishments include winning X Games gold 11 times.

White isnt just an accomplished snowboarder. He has earned five medals in skateboarding and was the first athlete ever to compete and medal in both the Summer and Winter X Games.

Maud is an 18-year-old snowboarder from right here in Carlsbad.

2022 will be her first Olympic Games, but she is no stranger to international competition. Maud finished in second place in the 2018 and 2019 Junior World Championships, she finished in third place in the 2021 Europa Cup and she has five podium finishes in the 2018 and 2019 NorAm Cup.

Maud will be competing against some of the best snowboarders in the world, including Chloe Kim who also resides in California.

She was named to the U.S. Snowboard team as a 14-year-old.

Bobsled

Kaillie Humphries is an Olympic champion who was born, raised and competed for Canada. Humphries switched to represent the United States in 2019 after allegedly experiencing both abuse and harassment while competing with the Canadian team.

Since joining the American team, Humphries has done nothing but win. Some of her wins include the two-woman bobsled titles in both 2020 and 2021. She also took home the gold in the first ever womens monobob event in 2021.

According to Team USA, they werent sure Humphries would be eligible for the 2022 games as she was waiting on her United States citizenship. After receiving it, she had her celebration in San Diego.

Did we miss any Olympians with ties to San Diego? Let us know by sending an email to social@kfmb.com.

WATCH RELATED: Olympic gold medal winner breaks down the stress athletes feel

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Your guide to San Diego athletes competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics - CBS News 8

The games just got real for several Bay Area star athletes as Team USA left Los Angeles Thursday and are now on their way to this years winter Olympics.

Nearly 100 athletes took off Thursday morning after an official sendoff. It was a sendoff like no other, which included a red carpet at LAX.

The athletes said its like one big family trip theyve been looking forward to.

Im so grateful to represent California, said Jamie Anderson, who will compete in the snowboarding competitions.

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing features several elite athletes from the golden state, including three figure skaters from the Bay Area and a few snowboarders from Northern and Southern California.

All of them are ready to get out of the bubble theyve been living in just to get a shot at the gold.

Life has just been so strict lately, definitely makes going to the Olympics not as enjoyable, Anderson said.

These athletes face several challenges as they head to the games, including human rights conflicts in china, cybersecurity threats and COVID-19.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, family and friends had to stay behind this year, so players turned to alternative ways of finding support and comfort.

My parents actually made me a video and it was a tearjerker for me, said snowboarder Hailey Langland.

Competition begins in just a week and you catch watch coverage across our NBC platforms.

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Team USA Athletes Head to Winter Olympics - NBC Bay Area

The International Olympic Committee plans to meet with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai during the upcoming Olympics in Beijing in what the IOC says is an attempt to allay concerns about her well-being.

Human rights activists and international observers have expressed concern about Peng's whereabouts since Nov. 2, when she alleged in a Weibo social media post that a retired high-ranking Chinese government official had sexually assaulted her. Following that post, which Chinese officials scrubbed from the country's highly-censored internet in less than a half hour, she disappeared from public view for two weeks, and her later appearance was a well-choreographed operation. She later said she had made no accusations and that her post had been misinterpreted.

IOC president Thomas Bach met with Peng by video later in November, and the IOC said in a statement that their meeting was the start of a communication that has continued. Experts on Chinese policy, however, said that the initial call was part of an orchestrated propaganda campaign.

"Since the first call that the IOC held with Peng Shuai on 21 November 2021, the IOC team has kept in touch with her and had a number of conversations with her the last one just the past week," an IOC spokesperson said. "In this way, we got to know each other better."

The Women's Tennis Association has taken a less conciliatory tone than the IOC, seeking further proof of Peng's safety while also suspending tournaments in China in response to her absence.

The IOC statement indicated that Peng will meet with Bach and Emma Terho, chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission. The meeting will take place within the bubble China has established to keep visiting athletes, journalists and officials from interacting with the Chinese population. The Olympics are slated to begin Feb. 4.

"In arranging the different conversations," the IOC said in the statement, "the Chinese Olympic Committee has always been very supportive and will also ensure that the meeting can happen even under very strict COVID-19 countermeasures and in the closed loop that is in place during the Games."

Story continues

Peng's situation briefly claimed headlines at the Australian Open when several demonstrators wore "Where's Peng Shuai?" t-shirts at the event. Tournament organizers initially banned the demonstrations before relenting.

Australian protestors demonstrate on behalf of Peng Shuai. (Paul Crock / Getty Images)

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jaybusbee or contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com.

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Olympics: IOC plans to meet with Peng Shuai in Beijing - Yahoo Sports

The Olympics start the first week of February, and Team USA will include a skier from Ashburn, Virginia.

Ashley Caldwell, 28, will compete as an aerial skier skilled in doing breathtaking flips and twists. She told News4 the tricks still sometimes make her nervous.

Aerials is obviously a very scary sport, but also a very fun and rewarding sport, she said.

When you stand on top of that jump, were scared to do some of the tricks that were doing, she added. But then you do the trick, and you overcome that fear, and its successful because of all that hard work. Thats just a really rewarding feeling, and thats why I keep coming back to it.

Caldwell grew up doing skiing and gymnastics, and then her mom suggested she try combining the two.

I thought she was insane, obviously, and thought there was no way I could possibly do that, she said.

But sure enough, she did. Caldwell got so good it only took her two-and-a-half years to make her first Olympics. Twelve years later, shes headed to Beijing for her fourth Winter Games.

Its incredible. I dreamed as a little kid to go to one Olympics, and now here I am on my fourth. Its incredible. Im so proud to be able to represent my country again, she said.

In the summer, Caldwell trains at a pool. Shes had setbacks along the way, including hard falls and needing surgery on both ACLs. But she has always overcome and even won the world championship in 2017.

Shell go for gold again at this years Olympics.

In addition to being an Olympian, Caldwell is in the middle of getting a second masters degree, in legal studies. She already holds a masters in real estate development.

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A Very Scary Sport': Aerial Skier From Virginia Headed to Olympics - NBC4 Washington

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January 27, 2022 1:00 pm ET

For the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, For The Win is helping you get to know some of the star Olympians competing on the worlds biggest stage. Leading up to the Opening Ceremony, were highlighting 15 Team USA athletes we think you should get to know.

Its rare to get two Olympic Games about six months apart, but here we are. Although to some, it may seem like the Tokyo Summer Olympics just ended, the Beijing Winter Olympics are nearly here with the Opening Ceremony set for Feb. 4.

In the weeks leading up to the Winter Games, we here at For The Win are rolling out a ton of Olympics content to help get you ready, including spotlighting some Team USAs top athletes.

And weve got them all right here in one handy place.

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Beijing Olympics: Meet some of Team USA's best athletes ahead of the 2022 Winter Games - For The Win

In summer 2019, figure skater Mariah Belldrove to a Dunkin Donuts, ordered two strawberry frosted pastries and made a career-altering decision.

She calledAdam Rippon.

She said, Im a mess,' Rippon recalled. And I was like, what does that mean?

Come help me, she said. Bell was coming off a bronze medal at the previous national championships, and her best world championships finish (ninth).

But she was struggling come the 2019-20 preseason. Particularly on this day at the U.S. Figure Skating preseason Champs Camp to assess skaters.

Her coach,Rafael Arutunian, said she was disorganized. Arutunian, who doesnt like to have to repeat himself, suggested she call Rippon, his former student who retired after reaching the Olympics in 2018.

He could hold your hand, Bell remembered Arutunian telling her.

Theyve been inseparable ever since.

Rippon helped choreograph Bells short program every season in this Olympic cycle to music from Britney Spears, Celine Dion and Lady Gaga. Anything that was on my Spotify most listened to list was up for grabs, he joked.

But since that strawberry frosted epiphany, Bell also leaned on Rippon as a secondary coach. Or fairy godmother, as he says. Together, Arutunian and Rippon helped Bell reach her two primary goals: winning her first national title last month and making her first Olympic team.

At 25, she became the oldest U.S. womens figure skating champion since 1927. Next month, she will become the oldest U.S. Olympic womens singles skater since 1928.

Our goal is to go there and for her to show that being 25 is amazing, Rippon said. That you can be 25, and you can be in the best shape of your life.

Rippon began training under the gruff Arutunian in Southern California in 2012. Bell joined the group, which includedNathan Chen, in 2016. Bell met Rippon years earlier, getting a picture with him at a skating show. Though Rippon and Bell shared ice for a year and a half leading up to the 2018 Olympics, they only casually knew each other.

In 2018, Rippon made his first (and last) Olympic team at age 28. He became the oldest U.S. Olympic rookie singles skater since 1936.

That same year, Bell entered nationals with an outside chance at the Olympic team (slim, she said) and finished fifth, earning an alternate spot.

I wasnt heartbroken, she said, knowing her real opportunity was coming in four years. I remember watching the Games from home and just being like, I want to be there so bad.

She watched as Rippon became a national celebrity with his team event bronze medal and engaging candor.

He had arguably the busiest post-Olympic whirlwind of any athlete, beatingTonya Hardingto win Dancing with the Stars and writing a memoir titled, Beautiful on the Outside.

Amid the hoopla, Bell took her shot and asked Rippon if he had time for another new venture: choreographing her short program for the 2018-19 season (also at Arutunians suggestion).

I wasnt really doing a lot of things with skating, he said. And it was a great way for me to still be connected.

Over the next three years, Bell experienced highs (getting engaged, then having the free skate of her life a month later at 2020 Nationals) and lows (missing the world championships team in 2021, then having that engagement broken off last summer).

She considers herself lucky for her coaching arrangement through all that. When Bell asked Rippon to help her, in that call outside a Dunkin, it was a Friday.

Sure I wouldnt mind, as long as Rafael is on the same page, Rippon remembered telling her. So I called Rafael, and he was like, oh my god, please come in.

By Monday Rippon was at the rink. In a typical week, hes there two or three days (but more often in this Olympic year).

His schedule really doesnt allow him to work with many other people, Bell told NBC Sports On Her Turf. But hes also like, I dont really want to coach. I just want to help you, which Im so fortunate for.

Arutunian focuses on the technical work, including jumps. There are ancillary benefits.

The reason that this works out so well is that Rafael is our guiding light. He is our team captain, Rippon said. Hes also coaching me on how to be a good coach.

Rippon, known for his work ethic to make the 2018 Olympics over younger skaters, helps with her training plan and conditioning.

I basically treated her like I was Cesar Millan, and she was a troubled dog that needed direction, he said. I was super tough on her and made her do a million more things than she was used to doing in practice.

One of Rippons most powerful decisions was to step back. Bell began the season with a Lady Gaga short program choreographed by Rippon, then made a new one with renowned choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne.

Bourne, a Canadian who won six world medals in ice dance, has a 32-bullet Wikipedia list of skaters whom she has choreographed for, including Chen and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu.

If I have to sit down and really decide whos a better choreographer, me or Shae-Lynn Bourne, obviously Im going to go with Shae-Lynn (expletive) Bourne, Rippon said. So in this Olympic year, it was really important to me. I told Mariah, listen, Im still a coach on this team. But I am imploring you that Shae-Lynn needs to do both of your programs.

All of Bells decisions paid off earlier this month. Rippon, who made his Olympic team in his ninth senior U.S. Championships appearance, was rinkside in Nashville for her crowning moment in her ninth senior nationals.

I pulled her aside, and I said, This is the hardest competition youll ever do in your entire life. And you did it, you finished it,' Rippon said. And not only did you finish it, you were strong, and you were brave.'

On Her Turf editor Alex Azzicontributed to this report.

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Mariah Bell goes to the Olympics with her fairy godmother Adam Rippon - Home of the Olympic Channel

The good news is that two of Northeasterns biggest ice hockey stars will be competing at the Olympic Games next month in Beijing.

The difficult news is that the Huskies nationally ranked teams must survive without the leadership of senior forward Alina Mueller, who will be playing for Switzerland, and sophomore Devon Levi, a goaltender for Canada.

The womens team always figured that Mueller, 23, would be leaving for what will be her third Olympics. At 15 she scored the winning goal in the bronze-medal game at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, making her the youngest player to medal in womens ice hockey.

In 2018, Mueller scored an Olympic-record four goals in one game while helping lead Switzerland to fifth place in South Korea.

The selection of Levi, 20, was finalized recently. He emerged as a surprise star one year ago at the World Junior Championships while leading Canada to the final. An injury prevented him from playing for Northeastern last season, but this year he is leading the NCAA with a .948 save percentage and nine shutouts, needing just 17 games to break the school record of six.

Levi becomes the first active mens ice hockey player at Northeastern to represent his country at the Olympicsa result of the NHLs refusal to participate in these Winter Games because of COVID-19 disruptions.

Im really proud of Devon, says Northeastern mens coach Jerry Keefe. Thats a huge honor to get selected to play for Team Canada at the Olympics. I know our whole team is proud of him and well miss him. But at the same time its a great opportunity for him.

Levi left Northeastern on Monday to join his Canadian teammates. If Canada reaches the mens gold-medal game on Feb. 20, Levi will miss five Hockey East games in addition to the Beanpot tournament (Feb. 7 and 14 at TD Garden).

The Huskies (16-7-1), No. 17 nationally in the PairWise Rankings, lost 6-0 at home on Saturday to the University of Massachusetts in their first game without Levi.

Weve got to be that much hungrier as a group without him, and some guys are going to get opportunities now, says Keefe, who will be relying on backup goaltenders Evan Fear and TJ Semptimphelter. Whoevers in, weve got to make sure that were playing really good defense around him. If anything, its going to make us a better hockey team, so were all excited about the challenge in front of us.

Mueller is tied with Maureen Murphy for the team lead with 29 points (8 goals and 21 assists) despite missing eight games for her Huskies (21-2-1), who have earned a No. 1 national ranking in the midst of a 20-game unbeaten streak. In August at the Womens World Championship in Canada, Mueller suffered torn ligaments in her right ankle, but decided against surgery. She has fully recovered, she says, and now looks at the injury as an unusual blessing that forced her to take a break during this busy run that will include the world championship, the Olympics, and the Huskies bid for a national championship after losing the NCAA final in overtime last year.

I honestly think my injury help helped meit kind of gave me a stop halfway through the season, Mueller says. I feel very energized and ready for whats coming. Im definitely going to be stronger when I come back.

Mueller will return to Northeastern just before the Hockey East playoffs, says Huskies coach Dave Flint.

Shes so fit and shes young, Flint says. With the excitement of the Olympics and then getting back to help her team win another [Hockey East] championship, shell find a way to get herself ready to be at her best.

Mueller is excited for her third Olympic opportunity.

I just love our country, she says of Switzerland, and being able to play on the national team makes me really proud to know that Im a role model for so many younger girls and boys in my hometown. Its so amazing that you will be an Olympian for the rest of your life, and thats something nobody can take from you.

For media inquiries, please contact media@northeastern.edu.

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Two Huskies Ice Hockey Stars are Headed to the Olympics - Northeastern University

MILWAUKEE Were officially one week out from the start of our Winter Olympics coverage and as the race to Beijing heats up, one local athlete is poised to be at the cutting edge of this years games.

After finishing second to last in the 5000-meter race at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, speedskater Emery Lehman took a step back. He took some time off in 2018 and 2019 to finish his civil engineering degree at Marquette, before storming back in this years trials and taking third place.

Before heading to Beijing, he shared his thoughts on what his third time in the Olympics means to him and how excited he is to represent his country.

It happens every four years. So, you know, four years out for something, it's tough to imagine, you know, Wow, I have to replicate my best performance ever that I just put four years of work in again in four years. And then, you know, here we are four years later and I was able to do that. And it is something special and it's still you know, something I'm trying to wrap my head around, and I'm sure it won't really hit me until I'm in China, said Lehman.

Emerys journey for the gold comes early in Beijing, with the mens 5000-meter race happening on Sunday, Feb. 6. If you would like to watch it live, it is set for 4:30 p.m. Beijing time (2:30 a.m. CST) right here on TMJ4.

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Speedskater and Marquette grad ready to take on Winter Olympics - WTMJ-TV

Anchorage resident, Olympic ski team member and Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center athlete Rosie Brennan. (Alaska Pacific University)

Alaskans account for more than half of this years U.S. Olympic cross-country ski team, and that includes Anchorages Rosie Brennan, who is returning to the Olympics after racing in 2018.

Brennans performances early in this seasons World Cup races earned her a spot on the team which was announced last week.

Brennan says shes helped by her experience, not just in Olympic or World Cup racing, but in having already navigated the first year of a global pandemic as an athlete.

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The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Rosie Brennan: I think all of us this summer had hoped that this winter was not going to be the same, that we would be able to spend more time together and not have races canceled, and so on and so forth. And here we are: I dont know maybe things are arguably worse right now? Im not sure. Thats a little frustrating for sure.

Just the consequence of getting COVID before Beijing is pretty extreme. I think in the last probably month or so, thats been weighing very heavy on everyones mind. We made it through the whole season with everyone staying healthy. So I think, hopefully, that means that the things that we were doing were working for the most part. Maybe we just got lucky. Its hard to say. But I think we at least have some feeling that we did have enough control over our behaviors to put ourselves at least in a place to have good luck.

Casey Grove: Well, I should say congratulations on making the team.

RB: Oh, thank you.

CG: My admittedly limited understanding of how this works is that there are different avenues to making the Olympic team. How did that work out for you?

RB: There are different tiers of standards that you can meet to get selected for the team. I actually met the first standard on the first weekend of World Cup racing finishing 6th in a classic race in Ruka, Finland, so it was pretty slick for me. Id say, it went according to plan, very, very well since knew that I had met the standard to make the team back in November.

Since then, Ive really been able to focus on the path I need to take to be in the best shape I can for the Olympic games. So thats been an exciting approach for me, and just a great place to be.

CG: Thats awesome. One thing that a lot of folks here in Alaska have been talking about are all the the athletes on the team with connections to Alaska. Of course, Alaskans have to do that but I wonder, what do you think that says about Anchorage, or Alaska in general, that so many people on the on the U.S. Ski Team are from here, or have connections to here?

RB: I mean, I think thats what it says! I think it speaks volumes to the nordic community thats in Alaska, and also just the incredible momentum weve had over the last 10 years or so, probably starting with Kikkan Randall. When thats what you see everyday growing up, someone out there crushing World Cup races, it certainly gives you the confidence and the belief that its possible.

Its a tight-knit community, and I think we really pride ourselves in being supportive and really rooting for one another, putting in a lot of hard training hours in probably some subpar weather compared to some of the other club teams around the nation. But also being super fortunate to have access to so much snow in Alaska.

For me, anyway, thats made a huge difference in my training, just being able to ski so much more than all the other teams. I think the best example is when we head to World Cup in November, for the first weekend of racing. At that point, I have anywhere from like three to four weeks of training on snow under my belt, and all of my other teammates on the national team have had zero hours on snow at that point. And I think it pays off to just be able to ski a lot.

CG: Y mentioned different generations of skiers inspiring the ones that that came after them, including yourself. I wonder how you feel about maybe inhabiting that role now as the person inspiring the next generation and just what what would you say to that person?

RB: Honestly, its been one of my biggest motivators to continue my career this far. The womens team in particular had made so much progress, and I felt like the youngers were really close but still needed a little bit of guidance to make that step. And so I definitely have been motivated to not step away until I felt like they were really ready to carry things forward. And we do have a lot of younger athletes on the team. We have a very, very young team.

I think it will be a great opportunity for them to gain experience and hopefully the veterans on the team can share what knowledge we have.

For me, my career really took a long time to take off, I guess you could say. And so my message has always just been to give yourself that patience, to have the patience and to continue the belief and to know that not every two skiers paths look the same. Theres so many different ways to become a good athlete, and its really about being true to yourself, who you are and having the patience, but also the willingness to put in that work year after year after year. If you believe its worth it.

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Anchorage nordic skier Rosie Brennan heads to Beijing Olympics with high hopes for herself and the next generation of athletes - Alaska Public Media...