Criticism, costs, TV times
What you need to know about the Olympics
2/3/2022, 8:41 p.m
The Winter Olympics will open on Friday. Then Beijing will be the first place to host winter and summer games. For athletes from all over the world, it’s all about success. But the criticism of the competitions is immense. It is primarily aimed at China.
China and winter sports – how does that fit together?
In 2008, Beijing was still hosting the summer games. Now the capital is the first metropolis that is also allowed to host the Winter Games. By 2025, the government wants to get 300 million Chinese interested in winter sports and build up a huge market for the industry. Numerous ski resorts and ice rinks have been created across the country for this purpose. The Olympic venues in the mountains of Zhangjiakou and Yanqing were prepared with great effort. A high-speed train covers the approximately 200 kilometers to Beijing in 47 minutes. For the sporting success of its team, China has hired a number of foreign coaches and set up massive support programs for youngsters.
How much is China paying for the games?
China’s President Xi Jinping has promised “simple games”. Officially, the budget is around 3.5 billion euros, which would be the lowest amount for the Winter Games in around 20 years. However, many expenses such as the high investments for the new ski area and the construction of new railway lines and roads are not included. As a result, some experts estimate the total cost to be closer to tenfold, even if some of the 2008 Summer Games venues are reused. The Olympic organizers want to recover part of the costs by selling the apartments in the Olympic villages. On the other hand, the hoped-for income from ticket sales due to the corona pandemic will largely fail.
How does Olympia actually go in the middle of the omicron wave?
The highly contagious virus variant is the absolute endurance test for China’s tough zero-Covid strategy. The host country itself has so far had the virus under control better than other countries. It is therefore essential to avoid that those involved in the Olympics come into contact with the Chinese population. The organizers have set up a closed cycle in which athletes, officials and helpers move as if in a parallel world. Rules of conduct for all those involved are set out in detailed manuals. Daily PCR tests and masks are mandatory. Infected people have to go to quarantine hotels. Foreign spectators are not allowed. Also in China there are no tickets for sale, only selected people are allowed on the stands.
Why is China so controversial as a host?
Human rights violations in dealing with Uyghurs and Tibetans, the suppression of the democracy movement in Hong Kong and threats against Taiwan – there are plenty of allegations against those in power in Beijing. Environmentalists criticize the showmanship in the construction of the competition venues in the mountain region and the waste of electricity and water for the snow cannons that have been running for weeks. The fact that a high-ranking official of the organizing committee threatened “punishment” in the event of criticism from the athletes caused additional irritation. However, when it came to awarding the Games, the International Olympic Committee had little choice, the only alternative being Almaty in authoritarian Kazakhstan. Munich and a number of other applicants had prematurely withdrawn from the race for the 2022 Winter Games.
How many participants are there and how many competitions are there?
Almost 2,900 athletes from more than 90 nations are expected to take part, which is fewer than the record number of participants four years ago in Pyeongchang. 45 percent of them will be women, according to the IOC the highest proportion of women in the history of the Winter Games. 149 athletes have been nominated for Germany, five fewer than in 2018. Medals will be awarded in 109 competitions, seven are new to the program: there are mixed events with teams of women and men in ski jumping, snowboard cross, short track and the jump of the Ski freestylers. The women’s monobob and ski freestylers’ big air will make their debut.
When can German fans follow the competitions?
Due to the time difference of seven hours, Alpine fans in particular have to get up very early, and many medal decisions in figure skating, snowboarding and freestyle skiing are also made on the German night. On the other hand, spectators can tune in to biathlon, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and the competitions on the ice track in the morning and early afternoon. The preliminary round games of the German ice hockey team start at 9.40 a.m. and 2.10 p.m. CET.
Who is broadcasting the Olympics on TV?
Olympic pictures can be seen on Eurosport, ARD and ZDF. Eurosport shows a total of 300 hours of live programming on free TV, and all competitions are available with the Joyn Plus paid offer. The public broadcasters alternately broadcast up to 16 hours live every day, plus a total of 500 hours of live streaming on six channels each. ARD and ZDF have received sublicenses from Eurosport parent company Discovery, which owns the Olympic broadcasting rights.