The strange Olympic stories from Beijing

The China Letter: February 9, 2022

This week, some short cuts from the Winter Olympics, from the complaints of athletes in various states of isolation to limited freedom of the press, and a series of political controversies surrounding competitors. (More next week!)

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COVID-19 in 2022

NPR @NPR

Athletes at the Winter Games are stuck in isolation facilities until they test negative with two consecutive PCR tests. Only then can they be released and reenter the Olympic Village to train with their teams and to compete.

n.prNo internet, bad food and dirty rooms: Olympic athletes struggle in COVID quarantineOlympic organizers scrambled to address major complaints from athletes isolating in Beijing due to positive COVID-19 tests.

The pandemic is playing its expected part in Beijing, with protocols seemingly enforced at random and dozens of athletes sent to isolation after testing positive. And yet, China is citing the success of containment measures by allowing more spectators.

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Olympic Village

BBC News (World) @BBCWorld

Winter Olympics slammed by deluge of complaints from athletes

bit.lyBeijing 2022: Winter Olympics hit by deluge of complaints from athletesGrievances range from having to compete in freezing temperatures to confusion over isolation rules.

Freezing temperatures, being shuffled between isolation facilities and repetitive meals are among the gripes shared by competitors in Beijing. Life in the Olympic Village bubble has some high-tech highlights, but it remains a winter of discontent.

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Press intimidation

Insider Paper @TheInsiderPaper

JUST IN: Dutch public broadcaster NOS reporter, who is in Beijing to cover the Games, pulled away by authorities while on air

A security guard’s intervention with a Dutch journalist stoked suspicion about how China is trying to manipulate media coverage. The International Olympic Committee claimed his dragging was an isolated incident, but several other examples followed.

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“Genocide Games”

Rep. Mike Waltz @michaelgwaltz

NBC refused to air my Olympics ad with @EnesFreedom unless we censor U.S. corporate logos of the Genocide Games sponsors. We won’t let them silence us. Here’s the ad that NBC and the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t want you to see 👇

Florida congressman Michael Waltz said NBC refused to air his advertisement slamming Olympic sponsors, which also features outspoken NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom. Waltz likens present-day China to the worst genocidal states in history.

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Uyghur torched

Daily Mail Online @MailOnline

Uyghur skier, 20, who became the face of China's Winter Olympics and carried the Olympic torch 'disappears'

trib.alUyghur skier ‘disappears’ after finishing 43rd in Nordic debutUyghur athlete Dinigeer Yilamujiang, 20, from the Altay Prefecture in Northern Xinjiang, finished 43rd in her cross-country skiathon Olympic debut on Saturday.

China chose cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang as one of its final torchbearers in the opening ceremony, which was widely seen as a cynical ploy considering the treatment of her fellow Uyghur Muslims. And now she’s vanished from the limelight.

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Eileen Gu

Fox News @FoxNews

US-born Olympic freeskier Eileen Gu dodges questions about citizenship after winning gold for China

foxnews.comUS-born Olympic freeskier Eileen Gu dodges questions about citizenship after winning gold for ChinaEileen Gu, the U.S.-born freeskier representing China in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, dodged questions about her citizenship on Tuesday after winning gold in the women’s freestyle skiing big air event.

Winning gold in the freeski big air event put more of a spotlight on Eileen Gu, who was born in San Francisco, but joined the Chinese team for the Games. When asked about her citizenship multiple times after the victory, she avoided answering directly.

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Peng Shuai

Reuters @Reuters

‘She was sitting there and we had the opportunity to talk and now she has to go to the quarantine, she told me, she will leave now the closed loop,’ International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said of Peng Shuai at the #BigAir Shougang

reuters.comPeng Shuai makes Games appearance as Gu wins Big Air goldChinese tennis player Peng Shuai was on hand on Tuesday to watch China’s Eileen Gu as she won gold in the Big Air competition in Beijing to put the host nation at the top of the medals table.

The tennis star whose disappearance last fall after accusing a senior Chinese official of sexual assault resurfaced at the Olympics with the explanation that it was “an enormous misunderstanding.” Peng Shuai also officially announced her retirement.

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“Hellscape”

ɐ͎ʞ͎ć͎ı͎ɹ͎ɐ͎ɯ͎ @LeaMaric

Hellscape

A closed steel mill in Beijing was featured in a viral tweet about the backdrop of a big air jump. But the visiting skiers are intrigued by the scenery, even if social media commenters have a different opinion about how it resembles a “hellscape” on TV.

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