By Julia Duggan
Staff Writer
The Winter Olympics opening ceremony will commence on Feb. 4 and will be available to watch on NBC and NBC’s streaming service, Peacock. The games are set to be entertaining, if not controversial.
For starters, the United States issued a diplomatic boycott on Monday, Dec. 6.. According to NBC’s Today, the boycott prevents any U.S. official from attending the games, but the athletes are still allowed to compete. The boycott was issued in protest of the human rights abuse that China has been accused of, including accusations that China has recently been stopping pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, detaining Muslims, and more aggressive actions against Taiwan and Tibet.
According to CNN, just two days later, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada also announced diplomatic boycotts. In both news reports, China mentioned that the boycotts could further strain relations with the countries that issue them. In late December, Japan announced it would not be sending a diplomatic delegation to the games, but did not specifically announce a diplomatic boycott, according to the New York Times.
The last time a boycott happened was on Dec. 13, 2013, when the United States, France, and Germany did not send their most prominent leaders to the winter Olympics in Russia as to protest the country’s resistance of gay rights. The boycott also applied to the 2014 games.
At this point, athletes will not have many spectators in the stands due to Covid-19. China has cancelled selling tickets to its own population and international spectators are not allowed.
There are many Covid-19 regulations in place. According to CNN, athletes are required to test negative twice before they are allowed to fly to China, and once there, they are required to be tested daily. China has created a closed loop for everyone that is involved in setting up and running the games to prevent Covid-19 from spreading, and sealed everyone off from the rest of China’s population. This includes venues, hotels and the transportation services for the Olympics.
The athletes that are fully vaccinated will be allowed to enter the closed loop upon arrival, According to CNN. Those who are not vaccinated are required to quarantine for 21 days before they are allowed to enter. Athletes who test positive during the games will not be allowed to compete, or will be forced to stop competing and enter isolation immediately. China is prepared to send anyone who is symptomatic to a hospital. Any athlete who tested positive will need two negative tests that are 24 hours apart to return to the games.
According to the New York Times, the sports returning to the games are Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsled, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding and Speedskating.
There are seven new sports that are appearing in the games for the first time — freestyle skiing mixed-gender team aerials, freestyle skiing men’s big air, freestyle skiing women’s big air, short-track speedskating mixed team relay, ski jumping mixed team event and mixed team snowboard cross. The seventh is called Monobob, which is a women’s only sport for the winter Olympics.
Monobob is when one person jumps on a sled and flies through an ice track full of turns. It is rare for a new sport to be added and have it open to women first. For this sport, there is only one manufacturer of the sleds in the world — iXent Sports — which means it comes down to the skill of the athletes and less on the innovative designs of the sleds.
This winter Olympics, there will be eight New Jersey athletes competing. Hakeem Abdul-Saboor from East Orange, Charlie Volker from Princeton, and Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian from Wayne are all competing in Bobsled. Fenlator-Victorian will be competing for the Jamaican team instead of the U.S. team, but graduated from Wayne High School, and has New Jersey roots.
New Jersey also has two skaters in the competition. Kimi Goetz, a Flemington native, will be competing in Speedskating. Kailey Kops from West Orange will be competing for Israel in Figure Skating.
Kenny Agostino, a Mount Olive native, is the only New Jersey representative for Ice Hockey. He has played for the New Jersey Devils in his hockey career.. Kelly Curtis, who has Princeton roots, is the only New Jersey athlete for Skeleton. Skeleton is similar to Monobob, except the rider lays on their stomach head-first and typically rides the same course the Bobsled teams do.
Sarah Escobar, who lives in Sparta, New Jersey, will be competing in the giant slalom skiing event. Slalom is when skiers ski down a mountain and are required to stay on course by passing through two poles called gates. Knocking over a gate, or skating out of bounds of the gates, results in penalties or disqualification.
To watch the events and cheer on Team U.S.A. check your local NBC network for the airing of specific events or watch on Peacock.
