It’s been the hottest topic on the news – the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing, China. With COVID and diplomatic boycotts, there are far fewer spectators this time around, but the energy is just as high.

The opening ceremony was held Feb. 4 at the Beijing National Stadium. Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the opening of the 24th Olympic Winter Games. Although this year’s opening ceremony was 43% less viewed on NBC than in 2018, it consisted of breathtaking laser shows. The U.S. Flag Bearers were speedskater Brittany Bowe and curler John Shuster.

COVID-19 has had a heartbreaking effect on some athletes, who have had to withdraw from their competitions due to testing positive. One example is U.S. men’s figure skater Vincent Zhou. Zhou competed in the figure skating team event on Feb. 6, and the U.S. got silver. That night, while teammates were celebrating the success, he found out that he had tested positive for COVID. Still, he could compete in the men’s singles event on Feb. 8 if he managed to get two negative tests. His hopes were dashed when a second positive result confirmed that he would, unfortunately, have to withdraw.

Despite the Olympics looking different this time around, history has been made and records have already been broken and pushed to higher levels; something that happens in every one of the Games.

Men’s figure skater Nathan Chen achieved tremendous success in the short program held Feb. 7. Setting a world record of 113.97, he made headlines with “redemption” from his disastrous 2018 Olympic experience. On Feb. 9, he skated in the long program, ending with a total score of 332.60, earning Team USA a gold medal. The podium was complete with Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno taking silver and bronze.

Zoi-Sadowski-Synnott won New Zealand its first-ever Winter Olympics gold medal, winning in snowboard slopestyle. Women’s figure skater Kamila Valieva became the first woman to ever land a quadruple jump in the team event on Feb. 6 at 15-years-old. American freeskier Eileen Gu who represented China won gold, becoming the youngest freestyle-skiing champion.

21-year-old Chloe Kim also got another gold medal, consecutive to her gold medal from the 2018 Games. She won in the women’s snowboard halfpipe and made history by becoming the first woman ever to win consecutive Olympic halfpipe gold medals.

The U.S. is currently ranked 3rd place in terms of the overall medal count, with Norway placing first. Team USA’s first medal came from 24 year old snowboarder Julia Marino, who won a silver medal in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event. So far, the U.S. has received 8 gold medals, with other gold medal favorites.

The Olympic Games closing ceremony will be held Feb. 20.

Photo courtesy of COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG