The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing are nearing and it’s time to get excited. This upcoming Winter Olympics will feature 15 sports with classics such as Alpine skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, bobsleighing, ice hockey, and many other sports.
One of the more famous athletes competing in this year’s Winter Olympics is Shaun White in snowboarding. Shaun White is one of the most accomplished snowboarders of all time. He is a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding 2006, 2010, and 2018, and holds the world record for the most X-Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder. He has also won 10 ESPY Awards throughout his career in various categories. He will definitely be someone to look for during the Winter Olympics.
Some fun facts for the 2022 winter Olympics is that Beijing will be the first country to be holding the summer and winter Olympics in history. Of the 15 sports being played, there will be 109 events held during the Winter Olympics. The Beijing Games will include new mixed men’s and women’s team events in freestyle skiing, short-track speed skating, snowboarding and ski jumping. The games have been heavily criticized amid allegations of China’s human rights abuses, notably towards the minority Uyghur population. This is one of the main headlines for this Olympics as it is causing lots of drama and backlash towards China.
“I am looking forward to the figure skating and curling portion of the Winter Olympics. I actually prefer to watch the Winter Olympics over the summer games. I think that the Winter Olympics bring out some of the best athletes in the world and show off some of the world’s most difficult sports that are often not played during the rest of the year. I am also hoping that Shaun White wins another gold medal.” said sophomore Eve Flores.
Adding on to this I think that curling is a very interesting sport that is often overlooked and not played or talked about until the Winter Olympics. It is a very unique game and is often one of the more popular sports to watch during the Winter Olympics.
The games have been heavily criticized amid allegations of China’s human rights abuses, notably towards the minority Uyghur population. This is one of the main headlines for this Olympics as it is causing lots of drama and backlash towards China.
There will also be a lot of drama at this year’s Winter Olympics as many countries are taking a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics.
“Diplomatic boycotts of the Olympics aim to snub host nations while keeping athletes free to compete. … Their aim is calculated to hurt the pride of host nations such as China, which often have both sports and politics mixed into their motives for staging events as big as an Olympics or soccer’s World Cup.” via Miami Herald.
Many nations are taking a diplomatic boycott such as Canada, Britain, the United States, and Australia. “The Chinese government has cracked down harshly on Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in that region, including mass detentions and forced use of contraception and sterilizations. Calls for an Olympic boycott sharpened after Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star, accused a former top government official of sexually assaulting her.” says the New York Times.
This is the reason for the United States Diplomatic Boycott. Although these nations will be diplomatically boycotting the Winter Olympics this does not mean that the athletes will not still be competing, all their countries’ athletes will still be competing in the winter Olympics. We will have to see what happens down the road and see if there are more countries to pull out and see if there are any changes made to the Winter Olympics.
Although this drama lies on top of the Olympics. The 2022 winter Olympics are fast approaching like a bonus holiday after the holiday season. Tune into the winter Olympics to see some of the world’s best sports being played and the world’s best athletes competing. See how many medals your home nation is able to do and cheer on your country in all the sports.
