What to look out for in the 2022 Winter Olympics
Starting Feb. 2, 91 countries sent about 3,000 Olympic athletes to compete in Beijing to see who’s the best in the world. With so many events happening in such a short period of time, it can be hard to keep track of them all, so here are a few tips to follow the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Before we talk about what to look for, it’s important to know where we can watch the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Currently, NBCUniversal owns the broadcasting rights to stream the Olympics in the US. With so many events, NBC splits them with their CNBC and USA networks. If you don’t have cable, NBC has its own streaming service called Peacock. You’ll be able to watch any event live there. In the case you miss an event, you’ll be able to watch full replays right after the event ends.
Seven new events will be introduced in this year’s Olympic games: Women’s mono bob (bobsled), Men’s and women’s big air freestyle skiing, Mixed team aerials (freestyle skiing), Mixed team relay (short track speed skating), Mixed team ski jumping, Mixed team snowboard cross. These new events add even more athletes into the mix with even more medals to earn. We’ll see if these events stick around for another Olympic game or if they produce the next Michael Phelps of their respective event.
From new to old, at age 35, Shaun White will make his return to snowboarding after taking three years off from the sport. The three-time gold medalist has already shown that he is one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time, Winter or Summer, so only time will tell if he can add another accolade to his impressive resume before he walks away from the sport for good.
Of all the athletes, none have the dominance that skier Mikaela Shiffrin brings to the table. Coming off 4 gold medals in the 2021 world championship, Shiffrin is set to shine in her 3rd Olympic bout, as she is projected to compete in 5 events for skiing, hoping to capture gold in all of them. Shiffrin is a huge favorite in these games, so there’s a high chance she takes gold in every event she competes in.
These are just some of the many exciting stories you’ll want to look out for in the 2022 Winter Olympics. It’ll be fun to see how these and other stories continue to develop in the coming weeks. You can find the daily schedule and track all the medals for the Olympics here. To keep up to date on the latest Olympic news, click here
Zack is a senior at Niles North high school. He likes sports, video games, and socializing with friends.
Hamza Ahmed is currently a senior at Niles North. In his free time, he enjoys going outside, playing sports, and hanging out with friends.