Monthly Archives: February 2022

Chances are youve been wondering why athletes are given cuddly pandas on the podium instead of medals at Beijing 2022.

At the Tokyo Summer Olympics we became accustomed to the medals being dished out inside the stadium albeit with athletes having to put medals around their own necks due to Covid risks but that isnt happening in Beijing.

Instead, medallists have received a fluffy mascot on the podium, as modelled by New Zealands snowboard sensation Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in the above video.

Beijing 2022

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So whats going on?

You cant say Winter Olympic medallists dont get their time in the limelight. They typically enjoy not one but two ceremonies: a victory ceremony and a medal ceremony.

The victory ceremony follows shortly after the event on a podium, with athletes in Beijing receiving a cuddly panda and hand-knitted bouquets which imitate six real flowers: roses, Chinese roses, lilies of the valley, hydrangeas, laurel, and olive branches.

The medal ceremony takes place later at a special plaza where, as the name suggests, athletes will receive their gold, silver and bronze medals. Like Tokyo, athletes will have to put on their own medals due to coronavirus risks.

While China has strict Covid restrictions, including widespread use of masks when not mixing within your own team bubble, the victory ceremony, and a later medal ceremony, has long been a staple of the Winter Olympics.

The smiley and chubby panda is wrapped in a sheet of ice to shield them from the elements. Theyve also been immortalised in key chains, pillows and other merchandise.

China have had to panic order truckloads more of the mascot after stocks plunged in a country gripped by Olympic fever.

"I almost cried seeing the mascot," Czech ice dancer Natalie Taschlerova told the Global Times before the Games. Steady on, Natalie, thats going overboard

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Beijing 2022

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Beijing 2022

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Winter Olympics 2022 Why are athletes given pandas not medals on the podium? Is it because of Covid? - Eurosport COM

Meet the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating team and who we expect to medal

American Nathan Chen is a gold medal favorite. Here is how the rest of the U.S. Figure Skating team stacks up.

Michelle Hanks, USA TODAY

BEIJING Madison Chock and Evan Bates lingered in the mixed zone after speaking with reporters Monday, watching on a nearby TV screen as Karen Chen took the ice.

"Yes!" Chock whispered as Chen landed one jump. Bates wrapped her in a hug after another. As Chen froze at the end of her long program, overwhelmed by emotion, the two veteran ice dancers clapped from the mixed zone.

The silver medal was officially theirs.

On a rollercoaster final day of the team figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, it was Chock, Bates and later Chen who sealed the deal on the Americans' silver medal the best performance in the short history of the team event. The U.S. previously won bronze in both 2014 and 2018.

"We've been lucky enough to sit in the box at every one of those events. And this year, knowing that we'd get the chance to participate, was a big deal to us," Bates said.

"(We knew) that we have an opportunity to inspire the next generation of American skaters, with what we do here. Because let's be honest (there are) so many new eyes, so many new viewers to our sport at this event. That's what makes it so unique."

MORE: U.S. figure skater Vincent Zhou tests positive for COVID

BEIJING TEXT UPDATES: Get behind-the-scenes access to the Winter Olympics!

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The Russian Olympic Committee, which entered as the favorite, won gold in the team event in dominant fashion, while Japan took the bronze.

For the Americans, a team silver medal is about as strong a result as could have reasonably expected even if they might have had an outside chance at goldjust a few days earlier.Fueled in part by Nathan Chen's brilliant short program, they led the team standings after Day 1 of competition.

By Day 3, however, the Russians had pulled away and the U.S. found itself deadlocked with Japan in second, with just two more events to go: The free dance and women's long program.

As the captains of the U.S. team, Chock and Bates admitted they knew the stakes when they took the ice in the penultimate event of the competition.

"We were very aware of what was going on. We were in the team box watching all of the events," Chock said. "But that doesnt change what we do when we get on the ice."

Chock and Bates' long program has an outer space theme, with Chock portraying an alien and Bates an astronaut, set to music from Daft Punk. And, at a time when they needed it most, they delivered a season-best performance, winning the event and re-constructing their lead on Japan.

The ice dance victory also easedthe pressure a bit for Chen, who redeemed herself after falling in the short program the previous day.

"Weirdly, I felt quite calm," Chen said."Its definitely hard to just come back after a hard skate, but for some reason I just felt very determined and very focused on what my job is. And I delivered just that."

All told, nine of the 16 American skaters competing individually at the Beijing Games also contributed in the team event, and will receive silver medals.

All but one of them were able to celebrate the achievement on the ice Monday; Vincent Zhou was notably absent after testing positive for COVID-19. It is unclear if he will be able to compete in the men's short program, which will take place Tuesday.

"Team USA has always been strong, but certainly this group of athletes weve grown up together," ice dancer Madison Hubbell said. "So to come together in a different way, a more supportive way and especially with our training mates Madison and Evan, to be able to accomplish this together has been really touching. And I know that its something that will be one of our highlights in our career."

A reporter asked Bates if, given the Americans' hot start, the silver medal felt bittersweet somehow like a missed opportunity to possibly upset the Russians. He said no.

"We're celebrating silver," Bates said. "Winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games is an incredible achievement, and the fact that we all get a silver medal, the whole team -- I'm so happy. I'm so happy."

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

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US figure skating team wins silver medal after clutch performance by Madison Chock and Evan Bates - USA TODAY

No B-roll jokes, pleasehave some respect. Captured in NBC footage Vultures photo team called never-ending and so sad, a camera took a tumble down a snowy slope at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 3. Small parts of the camera can be seen flying off from the sheer force of her flips and spins down the icy hill. After several rows of people failed to notice the frankly impressive display of athleticism behind them, a photographer at the bottom of the slope eventually reached out to collect the cameras motionless body. We dont know for sure yet whether she survived (Sony does have a camera center at the Olympics for repairs), but Vulture has asked a spokesperson for NBC Olympics to look into this sad incident.

Photography site PetaPixel identified the fallen camera as a Sony kit worth up to $8,700. Beyond that, its still unclear who exactly she was and why she fell. Was she dreaming of becoming an Olympic gymnast? Upset that she didnt book Rihannas maternity shoot? Tired of always focusing but never being the focus? All we know is that she didnt deserve this. If this feels oddly familiar, she wasnt the first to fall at an event like this: Vinko Bogataj became famous when he suffered the agony of defeat during a failed ski jump in 1970. It didnt end his career, and were hoping the same applies this time, too.

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Who Was That Camera Falling Down a Ski Slope at the Winter Olympics? - Vulture

BEIJING The cracks are starting to form.

First, there were stories of athletes missing the Olympics entirely because of COVID tests failed before they ever got onto a plane. Next, there were the athletes who tested positive while in China, including Team USA flag bearer Elana Meyers Taylor. Now, the positive tests that could only have been contracted in-country are coming, like the one thats flagged Team USA figure skater Vincent Zhou.

And now, in one of the most bizarre scenes yet at these COVID-affected games, two hockey teams took the ice Monday afternoon Beijing time, both fully masked.

Canadas women walloped their Russian counterparts 6-1, but that wasnt the story of this preliminary round game. The game was delayed more than an hour because Canada had not received Russias COVID report and did not want to take the ice until that was in hand, according to a Toronto Sun report. The Russian hockey team had a recent outbreak of COVID, and several players spent time in isolation before being cleared.

When the teams did take the ice, they did so wearing KN95 masks. The IOC apparently mandated the masks for safety and security reasons. By the third period, Russia had removed its masks, but Canada scored twice anyway.

When Canda and Russia took the ice, playes from both teams sported masks. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The results came in and they were negative, and they said they were going to take their masks off, Team Canadas Natalie Spooner said. We figured we had them on for two periods, so why not keep being extra safe for one period?

This is probably a cool story in the long run, Spooner said. We can say we were at the COVID Olympics and we even wore a mask in a game.

The chaos surrounding the start of the game, as well as the eligibility of the players within it, runs throughout these entire Olympics. Every individual within Beijings closed loop is tested every day, every individual is one positive test from ending up in an isolation facility and obliterating their Olympic dreams and there is no recourse, no oversight, no hope other than to pray to return a negative test as quickly as possible.

Story continues

Even that isnt a guarantee of freedom, as Taylor found; she tested positive again after testing negative and being almost out of isolation. (Shes since cleared protocols and has returned to the team.)

Every Olympics is rife with conspiracy theory; athletes and nations complaining that the judges and the hosts are biased against them is its own Olympic sport. The problem for these Games is that Beijing is operating under an entirely new system the idea of stomping out COVID entirely, not containing it. The most important function of the Games is to keep the Games running, no matter what the cost to individuals, teams or nations.

COVID is the backstory of these entire Olympics. A few more incidents like Mondays hockey game, however, and it will become the main story.

Continued here:

Olympics: Is masked hockey a sign of whats to come in Beijing? - Yahoo Sports

Olympic lingo: Olympians teach you to talk like a skier and snowboarder

Steezy. Ripping. Shredding. Team USA ski and snowboard Olympians teach you the lingo you need to know to sound like a pro.

Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing have begun. How are athletes from Vermont faring in this year's Winter Games?

See below for running tally of results.Please note,this file will be updated regularly during the three weeks of theOlympics.

More: How to watch Vermonters compete at the Olympics: Date, time, stream

More: Get to know Vermont's Olympians Follow the athletes on social media

Note: Below is a list of Olympic athletes who are Vermont residents and natives and others with ties to the Green Mountain State.

Date: Feb. 12

Date: Feb. 6

Date:Feb. 8

Date:Feb. 13

Date: Feb. 6 and

Get to know Vermont's Olympians: Here's how to follow the athletes on social media

Feb. 5: Finished in sixth place in the15-kilometerskiathlon. Norway'sTherese Johaug won gold.

Date: Feb. 8

Date: Feb. 10

Date: Feb. 12

Date: Feb. 16

Date: Feb. 20

Feb. 5: Part of team with Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan andPaul Schommer who finished seventh, the U.S.'s best-ever Olympicfinish in the mixed relay. They finished the relay in 1:08:58.3.

Feb. 5: Part of team with Sean Doherty, Clare Egan andPaul Schommer who finished seventh, the U.S.'s best-ever Olympicfinish in the mixed relay.They finished the relay in 1:08:58.3.

Date: Feb. 7

Date: Feb. 9

Date: Feb. 14

Date: Feb. 13

Meet this Vermont skier: Vermonter Megan Nick's journey from gymnast to U.S. Olympian

Date: Feb. 8

Date: Feb. 6

Feb. 6: The 22-year-old who lives and trains in Killington finished seventh overall.

Date: Feb. 18

Date: Feb. 6/7

Date: Feb. 15

GROUP PLAY

Feb. 3: 5-2 loss to United States

Feb. 5: 11-1 loss toCanada

Feb. 7 vs. Switzerland, 8:10 a.m.

Feb. 8 vs. ROC, 8:10 a.m.

Feb. 5: Finished in 53rdin the15-kilometerskiathlon.

Date: Feb. 8

GROUP PLAY

Feb. 3: 3-1 win over China

Feb. 53-1 win overSweden

Feb. 7 vs. Denmark 3:40 a.m.

Feb. 8 vs. Japan, 3:40 a.m.

Date: Feb. 20

Date: Feb. 13

Date: Feb. 6/7

Date:Feb. 8

Climate change: Nordic skiers and biathletes flag the dangers of manmade snow

Date: Feb. 5

Feb. 6: The University of Vermont product finished 11th (1:20:10.0), the best American male finish in an Olympic XC race since 1976.

Date: Feb. 8

Date:Feb. 6/7

Date:Feb. 9

Date:Feb. 10

Date:Feb. 14

Date:Feb. 17

Contact Alex Abrami ataabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter:@aabrami5.

Contact Jacob RousseauatJRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter:@ByJacobRousseau

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How Vermonters fared at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing - BurlingtonFreePress.com

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing has barely begun and people are already looking four years down the road.

The Winter Olympicsin Beijing has barely begun following Friday's Opening Ceremony. And yet, people online are already asking an important question.

Where is the next Winter Olympics being held? The question was one of the top searches on Google Friday.

During the Opening Ceremony, the current host country always marches into the stadium last. But in a recent move, the International Olympic Committee decided to have the next host march right before that.

In this case, it's Italy. Milano Cortina will host the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Before that, of course, will come the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. That will be followed by the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, which last hosted in 1984.

A host city for the 2030 Winter Olympics is yet to be determined, but Salt Lake City is reportedly in the running. It hosted the 2002 Winter Games.

Brisbane, Australia, will host the 2032 Summer Olympics.

When did the Olympics move to every two years?

From 1924 through 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympics were the same year. The '92 Winter Games were celebrated in Albertville, France, followed by the Summer Games in Barcelona.

Since 1994, an Olympics has been held every two years. The '94 Winter Olympics took place in Lillehammer, Norway, followed by the Summer Games in 1996 in Atlanta. Nagano, Japan, was next in 1998 with the Winter Games. That pattern was broken by the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Beijing Winter Games open on Friday, just six months after Tokyo closed. They'll be followed by the Summer Olympics in 2024 in Paris. Here's a breakdown of why things have unfolded as they have.

Why were the Olympics moved to every two years?

Olympic historian Bill Mallon suggests the International Olympic Committee was looking for more revenue. The IOC, he says, thought they could get more sponsorship money by spreading the Games out more.

Every two years also kept the Olympics in the public eye, and the move dovetailed with the increasing commercialization and professionalization of the Games. The trend was underlined when, for the first time, professional basketball players from the NBA the American Dream Team were the marquee stars in Barcelona.

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People are already wondering where the 2026 Winter Olympics will be - 11Alive.com WXIA

Update: Team USAs Mikaela Shiffrin fell during her first run of the giant slalom. She still has four other events to medal at the 2022 Winter Games.

Thanks to brutal conditions in the Yanqing area northwest of Beijing including winds over 40 MPH, youll see two skiing events in one evening tonight as part of the 2022 Winter Olympics coverage.

Two medals will be awarded in alpine skiing; one for the mens downhill, and the other for the womens giant slalom. In skiing the downhill is raced just once, whereas the giant slalom is two runs, so the mens downhill will be the middle event between the two races for the women.

The womens giant slalom will run their first heat on Sunday, February 6th at 8:30 p.m. ET, then the men will take over at 11:00 p.m. ET to award the downhill championship, followed by the second heat for the women at 1:30 a.m. ET Monday morning.

The mens downhill will take place on The Rock, a new venue no skiers had ever seen before last week thanks to Covid-19. The two-mile long course consists only of man-made snow, and expects to be one of the fastest runs in Olympic history. A practice run scheduled for Saturday was also canceled.

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Olympics mens downhill: Race moved to Sunday night thanks to high winds, womens giant slalom time change - DraftKings Nation

Diplomatic boycotts of the 2022 Winter Olympics may take away some of the conventional spirit and camaraderie of the games, but the international celebration remains a platform for nations to write their athletic histories.

Two countries will make their Winter Olympic debuts while several others will look to eclipse medal records.

Heres a guide to how many countries will participate in the Winter Olympics and which ones will make diplomatic boycotts in 2022.

There are 84 countries participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Individual National Olympic Committees (NOCs) help organize each countrys proposal for recognition before the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

There are a total of 206 NOCs, which are devised by the IOC and the International Sport Federation. These two organizations are the sole authorities who come together to recognize NOCs for the official summer and winter games.

Both Haiti and Peru are new to the Winter Olympics in 2022. Both countries will be represented by a single person, both, coincidently, in Alpine skiing.

Richardson Viano is with Haiti and Ornella Oettl Reyes is with Peru.

North Korea is the lone country that participated in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang that will not be returning to compete this year.

North Korea was suspended from Beijing 2022 because of its decision to not attend the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. The IOC claims that North Korea breached the Olympic charter, failing to fulfill one of the fundamental duties and obligations of a NOC.

U.S. diplomatic officials will not be participating in the fanfare of the games, according to the White House. That means government leaders will not travel to Beijing for the games. The diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Olympics, which includes President Joe Biden, stems from the White House calling out China for human rights abuses.

Canada, Australia and Japan have joined the United States in announcing a diplomatic boycott during the games, as have Lithuania and the United Kingdom.

Additionally, New Zealand officials and athletes will not be attending for a range of factors but primarily due to COVID-19 concerns.

Yes, but its been more than 40 years since it did so. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter called a Summer Olympics boycott in Moscow in response to the Soviet Unions invasion of Afghanistan.

In that case, Carter prohibited officials and athletes from attending the Moscow Games. Unlike 1980, Team USA will have athletes in Beijing.

South Korea is not suspended from competition, nor is the country supporting the United States diplomatic boycott. South Korea will send officials, claiming a dependence on China in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Russia will not technically participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics because of the two-year ban they received from the World Anti-Doping Agency the agency that monitors the fight against drugs in Olympic competitions. However, Russian athletes will participate under the ostensibly neutral flag of the Russian Olympic Committee, as they did during the PyeongChang 2018 games. They have not competed under the Russian flag since Rio 2016.

The ROC, or Russian Olympic Committee, will be competing in Beijing. They are prohibited from wearing the Russian flag on their attire and if their uniforms do say Russia, they have to include the phrase neutral athlete as well. If the athlete wins, the Russian national anthem will not be played, but rather some other song not associated with Russia.

For instance, during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when Vitalina Batsarashkina won an event for the ROC, music was played from Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. 1.

Norway has the most medals in Winter Olympic history, including 132 gold, 125 silver, and 11 bronze, which comes to a total of 368 medals in the 23 Winter Games they have participated in.

Coming in at second and third are the United States with 305 medals and Germany with 240, where the US participated in all 23 games and Germany only the last 12.

There are several countries that have participated in the games that have yet to receive a gold medal, including Latvia, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, North Korea, and Denmark.

The country to go the longest without winning a Winter Olympic gold medal is Romania. They have participated in 21 Winter Olympic games since 1924.

Italy will host the Milano Cortina Olympics in 2026.

Paris is the next Summer Olympic host city, with France playing the role of host nation for 2024.

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How Many Nations Will Compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics? - NBC Sports Chicago

1) Jamaica, we have a bobsleigh team (again)

Jamaica will enter a four-man bobsleigh team in the Olympics for the first time in 24 years after nicking the final qualifying spot, offering a feelgood reboot for the island nation whose debut at the 1988 Calgary Games inspired the Disney film Cool Runnings. Just making it to Beijing might seem like accomplishment enough for Shanwayne Stephens, the teams 31-year-old pilot and Royal Air Force lance corporal who emigrated to Great Britain with his family in 2002: certainly after improvised training methods at the height of the pandemic that included pushing his girlfriends Mini Cooper around the streets of Peterborough. But having touched down in China after undergoing their final preparations at the University of Bath, his goal is plain. Its got to be medalling, Stephens says. Its everybodys dream, its what were here to do. So why not aim high? BAG

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There is no such thing as a banker in an event as chaotic or frenetic as snowboard cross, where four racers take each other on down a mountain, but Britains Charlotte Bankes is certainly in pole position. The 26-year-old, who transferred from France to Team GB after the Pyeongchang Games four years ago, is not only the reigning world champion but has been in impressive form on the circuit this season. Bankes is at the vanguard of a strong GB snowsport team that also have reasonable medal chances in the form of Zoe Atkin, James Woods and 17-year-old Kirsty Muir, the youngest member of the Team GB squad. SI

Mikaela Shiffrin, the 26-year-old American sensation of the piste whose three Olympic medals include gold in slalom in 2014 and in giant slalom in 2018, has said her plan is to race all five individual events in Yanqing and will go off as a hot medal contender in all but the downhill. That puts Janica Kostelics womens record of four medals at a single Olympics on watch. The Vail native, whose 73 career World Cup wins are 13 short of Ingemar Stenmarks all-time record of 86, can further burnish her legacy by becoming the first skier from the US, male or female, to win more than two Olympic gold medals. BAG

Its the most compelling figure skating rivalry in a generation. In one corner: Nathan Chen of the US, the three-time world champion, who has won all but one competition he has entered since a nightmarish short programme doomed him to a fifth-place finish in 2018. In the other: Japans Yuzuru Hanyu, the two-time defending Olympic gold medallist who became the first mens repeat champion in 66 years at those same Pyeongchang Games. Chen goes off as the favourite on merit after winning their three most recent head-to-head meetings, but Hanyus knack for raising his level when the lights burn brightest makes their showdown at the Capital Indoor Stadium one of the must-watch fixtures of the coming weeks. BAG

Remember how Britain briefly went curling crazy in 2002 when Rhona Martin and her stone of destiny won gold in Salt Lake City? Well, Beijing 2022 could be far bigger. The bookies rate the British mixed and mens teams, led by Bruce Brucey Moaut, as favourites for gold, and the womens team, skipped by Eve Evey Muirhead, as the third favourites in their event. And while there might be some parochialism baked into those odds, the form of the British teams stacks up. The men are world champions. The mixed team are world champions. And the women recently won the European championship. Three medals? Its not out of the question. SI

Haiti and Saudi Arabia are poised to make their Winter Games debuts, with these Games matching the fewest number of debutant countries at an Olympics after Squaw Valley 1960, when South Africa was alone to join the fray. In a curious twist, both will take part in the same event. Richardson Viano, a 19-year-old originally from Port-au-Prince who was adopted by an Italian couple living in France, is scheduled to compete in the mens giant slalom alongside Fayik Abdi, a 24-year-old born in San Diego and raised in Beirut who will become the first athlete from any Gulf nation to compete in a Winter Olympics. BAG

The San Francisco-born freestyle skier and IMG model competed under the US flag before switching affiliations to China, where she is known as Gu Ailing and has been positioned as the face of the Beijing Games. The 18-year-old is among the gold medal favourites in the halfpipe, slopestyle and big air events having scored World Cup wins in all three disciplines this year and well on her way to becoming a household name with more than 1.3 million followers on Weibo and a growing roster of sponsors including Cadillac, Tiffanys, Visa and Victorias Secret. BAG

It was a minor surprise when Norway, a country of only 5.4 million people, finished top of the podium at the 2018 Games, winning 39 medals. It wont be if they repeat the trick in 2022. Indeed the data company Gracenote projects them to win 44 medals well clear of the Russian Olympic Committee and Germany with cross-country skiing and biathlon providing the majority of medals. But what makes Norways success so remarkable is they spend only a 10th of what Team GB does on Olympic sports each year and they also stress the importance of the umbilical link between grassroots and elite sport and of putting fun and happiness ahead of medals. SI

Southern Californian prodigy Chloe Kim shot to global stardom in Pyeongchang when she became the youngest female athlete to secure Winter Olympics gold on snow with a transcendent performance that included back-to-back 1080s, the gravity-defying manoeuvre she remains the only woman to have landed in competition. But she quickly found the trappings of fame gracing the fronts of cereal boxes and magazine covers, getting name-checked in Frances McDormands Oscar speech were dwarfed by her yearning for a normal life as a college student at Princeton. After nearly two years off the mountain Kim picked up right where she left off with a world title, crediting her decision to start therapy and turn focus to her mental health with helping rekindle her competitive fire. Now 21, she is the hot favourite to defend her Olympic snowboard halfpipe title. BAG

A trio of boundary-pushing Russian teenagers armed with point-gobbling quadruple jumps is poised to obliterate the competition in womens figure skating, reducing the entire podium of the Winter Olympics glamour event to a fait accompli. Barring a colossal surprise, the more familiar pair of the 17-year-olds Alexandra Trusova and the reigning world champion, Anna Shcherbakova, will compete for the silver and bronze medals behind the 15-year-old prodigy Kamila Valieva, the newly minted European champion who has already broken the world records for the womens short programme, free skate and combined total in an extraordinary first season on the senior circuit. BAG

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Winter Olympics 2022: 10 things to look out for in Beijing - The Guardian

Learn the basics of Olympic curling ahead of the Beijing Winter Games

The Potomac Curling Club teaches the basics of curling strategy and tell you everything you need to know to watch curling in the Olympics.

Jasper Colt and Hank Farr, USA TODAY

BEIJING In 2008, as the Water Cube, it was where U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps won a record eight gold medals.

And Wednesday, as the Ice Cube, it's where the 2022 Winter Olympics officially began.

A full 48 hours before the opening ceremony, curlers from eight countries including the United Stateskicked off the mixed doubles competition at the National Aquatics Center, in what was the first sporting event of the Beijing Games.

The American team of Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys faced Australia in their first round-robin game, squeaking out a6-5 win. And the opportunity to lead off Olympic competition was just as exciting.

"It's kind of nice to be the first, to get the party started," said Persinger, 29."We've been here for several days, and we weren't able to get on the ice until today, actually. So just being out there, and getting to take our masks off and throwing those first few rocks in the game, it made me feel a lot more comfortable. Just kind of the joy of like, this is why we came here."

Plys said that, due in part to travel, it had been about a week and a half since they had been able to practice on the ice, prior to Wednesday's opener.

"We kind of talked about how half the battle to these Olympics is getting here healthy, to a point where we can play," the 34-year-old from Duluth, Minnesota said."It's been less than ideal circumstances, obviously, for everybody. But as the Games continue on and we get some reps in under our belt and find that confidence, I think it'll help us sharpen up down the stretch."

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Wednesday's action lacked some of the typical fanfare of Olympic competitiondue to COVID-19. With the Games being staged in a "closed-loop system," Beijing 2022 organizers had announced that only selectChinese fans would be invited to watch the Games in person and only if they met certain COVID-19 restrictions.

At the Ice Cube, this translated to about 200 fans spread out across six sections of blue seats, and a few dozen more scattered on the side opposite them. Most clapped when host China pulled off a big shot, or won an end. Others waived blue flags adorned with panda Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the Games.

"It's cool, man," Plys said of the atmosphere. "We'll take fans any way we can get them right now. Last time I played in a major competition, there were cardboard cutouts of people in the stands, and that was a bit weird."

Persinger and Plys will return to the ice Thursday with two more round-robin games, against Italy and Norway.

It's a strange quirk of Olympic scheduling, that competition in some events begins before the Olympic flame is officially lit. Two other sports moguls skiing and women's hockey will join curling on the competition schedule Thursday, with the U.S. women facing Finland in their first preliminary game at 8:10 a.m. ET.

The ceremonial start of the Games will come roughly 24 hours later, with the opening ceremony at Beijing's National Stadium, more commonly known as the Bird's Nest. NBC's coverage of the event begins at 6:30 a.m. ET.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

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With mixed doubles curling at the Ice Cube, the 2022 Winter Olympics are officially underway - USA TODAY