Axel May, Ugo Pascolo
Two days before the official opening of the Olympic Games, the hypothesis of a positive Covid test has become the obsession of all athletes who have come from all over the world to compete. A particular atmosphere, weighed down by controversy, which even ends up putting the regime in the embarrassment.
It is the sword of Damocles version 2022, the fatal swab that directly sends anyone into forced confinement: the positive test. And while the first events of the Beijing 2022 Olympics took place this afternoon, the Olympic health bubble, and the athletes, live in fear of seeing months of preparation shattered. “It is forbidden to be positive for Covid”, summarizes the biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet at the microphone of Europe 1. For the one who could be the first French medal of these Olympic Games, self-isolation was therefore essential to take no risk .
A setback for some athletes and for the diet
“We’re going to have to be very careful at home. Apart from my girlfriend, I’m not going to meet anyone else, but there’s always a risk since she continues to work. It would be a real shame not to go to the Games in because of that.” An obviously dramatic situation for any athlete who has been preparing for such an event for four years. And some are already paying the price, like world number 1 ski jumper Marita Kramer, who saw her dream of a gold medal shattered because of a positive test.
A setback that hangs in the face of all athletes, but not only. “China would have liked to show that after Tokyo, the Winter Olympics in Beijing marked the return to normal life and the triumph of China’s zero Covid strategy”, analyzes Valérie Niquet, author of China in 100 questions (ed. Tallandier). However, it is clear that this is not the case. Especially since despite a China “completely sealed off with very difficult internet access, the Chinese can clearly see that there is not a delirious enthusiasm for the Beijing Games”.
A lack of enthusiasm that affects some residents
A trend that even reaches certain inhabitants via the various controversies aroused by the Games or even the regime. Apart from the human rights issue, the controversy surrounding artificial snow does not leave anyone indifferent. “Northern China is an extremely dry, very cold area, where it does not snow. And the sight of these bare, black mountains with a few bands of artificial snow is nothing to excite.
A situation that embarrasses the regime, according to Valérie Niquet, even if the latter will not recognize it publicly.