Curling kicked off sports competition at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony and after weeks marred by concerns over COVID-19 and political tensions over diplomatic boycotts.
History will remember that the United States were the first winners of this Olympic fortnight by dominating Australia (6-5) during the preliminary round of the mixed doubles tournament.
And unlike the Tokyo Olympics behind closed doors last summer, an audience – admittedly sparse – was able to attend the meetings. The spectators, guests among the resident population since China decided to invite the public after banning foreign travelers and refusing to sell tickets, were even able to get excited for China’s victory against Switzerland ( 7-6).
Earlier in the day, the Olympic flame entered the Chinese capital, the first city in history to host the Summer (2008) and Winter Olympics.
Under a temperature of -5 degrees, Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng lit the long red and silver torch before passing it to the first torchbearers. Among them were former NBA basketball player Yao Ming or astronaut Jing Haipeng.
Curling has therefore launched the sports fortnight, at the end of which 109 Olympic titles will be awarded in 15 disciplines bringing together nearly 3,000 athletes.
The events are organized around three distinct zones. In Beijing, ice sports and big air will take place, organized on an impressive 60 m high platform on the ruins of an old steelworks.
Zhangjiakou station, 180 km northwest of Beijing, hosts Nordic events, biathlon, snowboarding and freestyle skiing, with the exception of big air, and finally the city of Yanqing, 75 km north -west of Beijing, is the scene of alpine skiing and luge, skeleton and bobsleigh events.
First title on Saturday
The highlights will be, as always, alpine skiing and in particular the consecration of the king and queen of speed, with the men’s downhill starting on Sunday and the women’s downhill on Thursday 15, figure skating, with in particular the Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu who is aiming for a rare hat-trick.
The freestyle skiing and snowboarding events promise to be very spectacular, with the presence of American legend Shaun White, 35, who already has three Olympic half-pipe titles to his name.
Thursday, ice hockey and mogul skiing will begin in turn, with in particular the first jumps of the Frenchwoman Perrine Laffont, Olympic champion 2018 and again favorite this year.
Even more than usual, the controversies were not lacking before this meeting in Beijing, the first medal of which will be distributed on Saturday with the women’s skiathlon.
Diplomatic-political controversies first: following the United States, several countries (Great Britain, Canada, Australia, etc.) have decided on a diplomatic boycott to denounce human rights violations in China, particularly in the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang , and will not send official officials to Beijing.
Zero COVID strategy
For fear of the transmission of the virus in the population, while the Chinese authorities advocate the zero COVID strategy, the organizers have set up very strict sanitary bubbles.
No possibility for visitors to enter or leave the Olympic bubble including accommodation, transport system and competition venues. Barricaded hotels and sites, daily anti-COVID tests for the approximately 60,000 people living in the bubble, compulsory mask-wearing, the use of robots to serve coffee, cocktails and meals in certain catering establishments are signs of local fear.
Finally, there is the environmental issue. The recurring absence of snow on the mountains of Zhangjiakou and Yanqing is compensated by tons of artificial snow deposited on the tracks drawn in the middle of landscapes virgin of all white traces.
But the sportsmen prefer them to concentrate on the sporting aspect. “I’m on site for the competition. We had to ask ourselves the question before, when the Games were awarded,” said French skier Alexis Pinturault.
“Otherwise they did a good job, we are very well received and everything is magnificent,” he assured.