Good morning! The Olympics are officially under way.
Fake snow coats the slopes and the Olympic torch has reached its destination. The opening ceremony went off without a hitch in the Bird’s Nest, the iconic stadium that played host to the start of the 2008 Summer Games. See the opening ceremony, in photos.
Canadian flag bearers Charles Hamelin and Marie-Philip Poulin lead the team during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics at the National Stadium today in Beijing.Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Here’s what happened yesterday and overnight:
- The millions of cubic metres of machine-made snow at Beijing venues mirror what many ski resorts already know – climate change means skiing and snowboarding are changing, too
- The allure of ice dance, with its intricate displays of artistic flair and technical precision, is fierce. Team Canada skaters guide us through Canada’s favourite choreographed party on frozen water
- Not only is Canada’s figure skating team missing its finest, Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue, it’s still awaiting Keegan Messing’s COVID-19 testing results to be cleared to travel to Beijing
- Gold-medal favourite Mikaël Kingsbury moved into moguls final with Justine Dufour-Lapointe
- From Whistler Mountain Ski Club to the machine-made slopes of Northern China, downhill skiers Brodie Seger, Jack Crawford and Broderick Thompson look to make podium push
- In Switzerland, hundreds of Tibetan and Uyghur activists marched in front of the International Olympic Committee building, criticizing the IOC for awarding the Games to China, considering its genocide of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in the western Xinjiang region
- India has joined the string of countries keeping diplomats away from the Games. The country made the decision after a Chinese soldier wounded in the bloodiest clash between India and China in decades carried the symbolic torch. The 2020 border clash killed four Chinese soldiers and at least 20 Indian soldiers
- Athletes from Russia and Ukraine are distancing themselves from each other at the Beijing Olympics, amid escalating political tensions
- From Beijing’s perspective, what matters is presenting an image that China has emerged as a global power: The guest list for Friday includes Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and the heads of a good chunk of the rest of the former Soviet Union and the unelected rulers of several energy-rich Gulf Arab states
Where Canada stands
The first medal of the Games will be won on Saturday. Once medals are awarded, we’ll be updating this graphic with the medal standings:
What’s on today and tomorrow
Friday, Feb. 4
9:45 p.m. ET Snowboard, women’s slopestyle, qualification
11:10 p.m. ET Ice hockey, women, Canada vs. Finland
Saturday, Feb. 5
1:05 a.m. ET Curling, mixed doubles, Round robin: Canada vs. Sweden
1:20 a.m. ET Ski jumping, men’s individual – Normal hill, qualification
2:45 a.m. ET Cross-country skiing, women’s 2x7.5km skiathlon (medal opportunity)
3:30 a.m. ET Speed skating women’s 3000 m (medal opportunity)
4 a.m. ET Biathlon, mixed 4x6km relay (medal opportunity)
5 a.m. ET Freestyle skiing, men’s moguls, qualification 2
5:45 a.m. ET Ski jumping women’s individual – Normal hill, first round
6 a.m. ET Short track, women’s 500 m heats
6:10 a.m. ET Luge, men’s single, run 1
6:30 a.m. ET Freestyle Skiing, men’s moguls, final (medal opportunity)
6:35 a.m. ET Ski jumping, women’s individual, normal hill, final round (medal opportunity)
6:38 a.m. ET Short track men’s 1000 m, heats
7:05 a.m. ET Curling, mixed doubles, round robin, Canada vs. U.S.
7:23 a.m. ET Short track, mixed 2000m relay, quarter-final
7:50 a.m. ET Luge, men’s single, run 2
7:53 a.m. ET Short track, mixed 2000 m relay, semi-final
8:18 a.m. ET Short track, mixed 2000 m relay, finals (medal opportunity)
8:30 p.m. ET Figure skating, mixed team, qualification – women’s short program
8:30 p.m. ET Snowboard, women’s slopestyle, final (medal opportunity)
10 p.m. ET Alpine skiing, men’s downhill (medal opportunity)
10:50 p.m. ET Figure skating, mixed team, final – men’s free program
11:30 p.m. ET Snowboard, men’s slopestyle, qualification
The Globe has put together an Olympics primer, including the key athletes and teams, important events and when to watch. You can check it out (and keep it bookmarked) here.
Globe on the ground
The Globe’s Kathryn Blaze Baum looks at the Winter Olympics’ snow, none of which came from the sky. About 400 automated snowmaking machines are shaping the white ribbons running through otherwise parched, brown terrain. This year’s competition in Northern China will make history as the first to feature almost 100-per-cent machine-made snow, underscoring the effects of climate change on high-performance winter sports and the mountains and glaciers that sustain them.
COVID-19 and the Games
- In photos: Meet the robots roaming the Olympics taking the temperature of anyone who crosses their path.
- During the pandemic, virtual reality helps Canadian Olympic athletes overcome hurdles left by COVID-19
Looking for more up-to-the-moment COVID-19 news? Check out our coronavirus newsletter, sent weekdays and Sundays.
As seen at the Games:
The Globe and Mail
Figure skaters Nikolaj Soerensen, Zachary Lagha, Eric Radford, Vanessa James, Marjorie Lajoie and Laurence Fournier pose ahead of their first team event at the Beijing Winter Games, yesterday.
Which event are you waiting for at the Winter Games? E-mail us at audience@globeandmail.com and let us know.