WINTER OLYMPICS
CHINESE ZEAL, COVID-19 AND THE OLYMPICS
Saro Thiruppathy compiles a brief analysis of the situation and crises that Beijing dealt with in order to keep the Winter Olympic Games on track
When China won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur on 31 July 2015, the world was a very different place. At that time, not even in one’s wildest dreams could anyone have foretold that by 2022, the global population would have been under siege by a microscopic parasite known as SARS-CoV-2.
While the origins of the virus are yet being hotly debated both at scientific forums and among conspiracy theorists, the fact of the matter is that no one really knows and everyone is guessing.
But that didn’t stop China being tarnished as the cause and distributor of COVID-19 by far too many nations in the world – mostly Beijing’s detractors in the US and elsewhere.
The Chinese government fought a hefty battle and brought the situation under control, using wide-ranging and somewhat draconian measures in the form of protracted lockdowns etc. In fact, China is still battling sporadic outbreaks of COVID-19 but that seems to be the least of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) problems.
The Winter Olympics, which was a highly anticipated event that received enormous funding from the CCP, was overshadowed to some degree by claims made by Western governments about human rights violations of the Uyghur people.
Countries such as the US and UK, which lied and collaborated to destroy Iraq and Libya, had been sanctimoniously in tune in their efforts to condemn China – they even initiated a boycott of the Games by its diplomats and high-ranking officials.
Though they tried hard to make a political statement, it didn’t gain much traction internationally because as they say, the dogs may bark but the caravan moves on – and China (at least publicly) seemed unfazed by the boycott.
The Games ended on 20 February amid tight security and a blanket gag order on any kind of protests by athletes or media during the events.
CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM As a result of China’s zero COVID strategy, the media noted that hazmat suited Chinese workers at the Olympics were everywhere. The CCP’s closed loop system entailed a total lockdown of the 12,000 athletes and officials, and the loop was guarded by fences, bars, guards and wire.
Anyone entering China for the Games was tested twice before arriving on the mainland and faced a rigorous test at the airport, after which morning swabs were taken every day. Since the CCP was driven by a single-minded purpose to stamp out any COVID-19 outbreaks at the Games, keeping athletes and visitors happy wasn’t particularly important.
Workers disinfected every surface there was to see including doorways and parking lots. Though excessive, these measures seemed to have kept the virus at bay to a great extent.
But that valuable element of interaction between visitors from different nations and cultures, which is an interesting byproduct of events such
as this, was set aside in the interest of health rather than wellbeing.
Life inside the closed loop system was limited to one’s hotel, the venues and nothing else.
The only masks allowed for use were the N95 and KN95 types, and everyone had to wear them except while eating. What was interesting is that Westerners who generally huff and puff every time a mask or vaccine is mandated were rather subdued in China. They played quietly by the rules that this Asian giant had put in place.
ARTIFICIAL SNOW Since a snowfall could not be guaranteed in time for the Games, Beijing wasn’t taking any chances. It proceeded to cover the slopes and venues in artificial snow.
About 300 snow cannons blasted artificial snow onto brown mountains in Beijing, which are generally snow free in winter. But on 13 February, Zeus smiled and released snowflakes on the locations where most of the snow events were being held.
Though this bounty from the heavens did end up delaying some of the scheduled events, it was extremely welcome.
MEDAL WINNERS Of all the winners at the Winter Olympics, Eileen Gu drew considerable international attention. She was born in the US to an American father and a first-generation Chinese immigrant mother. In June 2019, Gu requested a change of nation from the International Ski Federation a.k.a. FIS to ski for China because she wanted to compete as a Chinese in the Winter Olympics.
Gu became the youngest gold medallist in freestyle skiing after winning the big air event. After sitting in third place, Eileen landed her first attempt at a double cork 1620 even though she had never tried it in a competition before.
In the end, Norway led the list of gold medals with 16, followed by Germany (12), China (9), the US (8), Sweden (8), the Netherlands (8), Austria (7), Switzerland (7), Russia (6) and France (5).
