Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
Athletes attending the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics might interact with each other, but they won’t have contact with the residents of China.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee has created a “closed loop” that will segregate the Games’ participants from the public. Moreover, athletes and the public both face an elevated security environment in Beijing.
As reported by USA Today, athletes and international media are required to remain in fenced-in areas and travel via private bullet trains to venues. Security guards and police officers are also being used to keep people in and out of the bubble.
Reuters reports Chinese officials hope to prevent a wider outbreak of COVID-19 as foreign visitors begin entering the nation. “As more people are entering China, the imported COVID-19 cases are increasing,” Reuters quoted Huang Chun, deputy director general of the committee’s Pandemic Prevention and Control Office, as having said.
Of the 200 new cases reported, only 16 of them were found in athletes, but any increase in COVID-19 cases is being treated with intense seriousness.
Despite the unique situation, and heavily restricted movement, Team USA’s better known winter athletes have remained positive.
Five-time Olympian Shaun White’s Twitter account has largely been a celebration of his 20 years of Olympic involvement.
The U.S. ski and snowboard team posted a video that revealed the extensive process for top women’s skier Mikaela Shiffrin to even get to a training session.
.@MikaelaShiffrin heading to day 1 of training at @Beijing2022 👀🥳🇺🇸@NBCOlympics @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/RneIHFFm8B
— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) January 31, 2022
Shiffrin also tweeted a photo of a socially distant reunion with Norway’s multiple-time skiing champion, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
HERE! @Beijing2022 🥳 (Reunited with @AleksanderKilde, too. 🇳🇴🥰🙃👏😜) pic.twitter.com/yeth5GPkGy
— Mikaela Shiffrin (@MikaelaShiffrin) January 31, 2022
US Olympic athletes began converging on Beijing over the past several days, as the opening ceremony for the Olympics is scheduled to take place on Friday.