[orangeman 1,419]

On 12/23/2021 at 7:06 PM, Topicmaster1010 said:

*Long Post Alert!!!*

 

Alright, guess I'm posting everything at once. So I had some free time so I figured I might as well try to make predictions for each event. These are mostly based on this years world cup results and last years world championships. Please keep in mind that my knowledge of alpine skiing and the nordic sports (besides biathlon) isn't the greatest so any advice would be appreciated. Most events were mostly straight forward to predict but a lot of the events (especially in biathlon, short track, and some freestyle skiing and snowboard events) have been very unpredictable this year so that made my job a lot harder. A lot of the events also don't have too much data so far this year so I'll update the predictions once more events are finished.

 

 

Alpine Skiing

[orangeman 1,419]

On 12/18/2021 at 7:27 AM, intoronto said:

my prediction: Canada will have its worst result since 2006... 

A revived speed skating team, new events and hopefully a return to the podium in curling could maintain Canada's count from 2018.  

 

The thing is, Canada tends to be good at things that are unpredictable like freestyle, snowboard and short track.  One slip spells disaster in those events.  Add to that uncertain training and competitive seasons the last 2 years and who knows.  It could turn out great, it could be terrible.  

 

Prediction: Canada doesn't win a figure skating medal for the first time since 1980.  

[orangeman 1,419]

Canada's hockey jerseys:

 

[orangeman 1,419]

1 hour ago, Vic Liu said:

don’t be so pessimistic. I still expect somehow we can get tickets. If I find the local ways to get tickets I will post here if anyone else interested. I went to Xi‘an early this year to watch the National Games and knew some methods to obtain ‘local’ tickets now.

I appreciate it, and we will see.  The reality is, sponsors get a certain amount of tickets and with the lower capacity that basically takes care of that.  I fear that the announcement earlier that residents could attend was just PR, and in reality it'll just be a chosen few from the elite.  

 

Just an example here: I recently went to the newly opened Universal Studios here in Beijing (awesome, btw!).  All VIP and fast track passes have been bought up for the next 6 months, as far as it goes.  Every day it moves, the next day in 6 months is sold out before it hits the app.  It's the same for travel tickets and special event tickets here all the time.  I actually like living here non-covid times, but this is one of the most frustrating things.  I thought the Olympics would be different since it's overseen by an international organization.  We'll see.  

[orangeman 1,419]

The Ice Cube (formerly Water Cube) where curling will take place will only be at 20% capacity, or 1000 spectators. 

 https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/beijings-ice-cube-capacity-capped-20-covid-19-measure-2021-11-11/

 

We can expect the rest of the indoor venues to be the same, I guess. Having lived in Beijing during Covid this doesn't make much sense to me because everything here is usually business as usual, except with masks and health code.  I don't know why for the Olympics in particular we suddenly have to reduce capacity.  It's disappointing because, as with everything in China, it was already going to be hard to get tickets because everything is always snatched up by large companies right away and you basically have to be a local to understand how to get them (i.e. air, train and sporting events).  Now we know it'll be impossible.  Very disappointing because a big part of the reason I stayed here this year was for the Olympics. Now we're sure we won't be able to attend, and there will be no atmosphere, we'll just watch at home like I could have done anywhere.  I live so close to most of the Beijing venues, I had dreams of scooter over to catch a hockey game before hopping to catch some speed skating.  Very sad now.  

 

Having said that, Beijing is experiencing a "mild" outbreak again so things are getting crazy.  Probably due to the Olympics, a new policy is going into effect tomorrow where you cannot enter Beijing if you've been anywhere that has even 1 case in the last 14 days.  You also cannot go to any city with a land border or a port (i.e. Shanghai or Guangzhou). 
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-city-tightens-covid-guidance-travel-chinese-areas-with-overland-ports-2021-11-14/

 

So basically we are locked into Beijing until after the Olympics at least.  Now I know how the residents of Tokyo felt.  You suffer due to hosting, but you get nothing in return.  Even as a huge Olympic fan, it stings.  It probably stings more as a fan.  

[orangeman 1,419]

On 11/14/2021 at 6:04 AM, Gianlu33 said:

Or maybe, just use a good VPN

Most international or "international" schools in China have a state-sanctioned VPN worked into their campus wifi.  It's based in HK and still blocks some sensitive materials, but it's fine for all social media and almost everything you'd use everyday.  The weird thing is, the one I use blocks the CBC, but not any American news sites I've tried.  Anyway, I'd imagine the Olympic Village will have something similar and then NOCs will provide VPNs for athletes as well.  

 

As a side note: This site is blocked for me in China without a VPN.  I guess that makes it cool.  

[orangeman 1,419]

The Ice Cube (formerly Water Cube) where curling will take place will only be at 20% capacity, or 1000 spectators. 

 https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/beijings-ice-cube-capacity-capped-20-covid-19-measure-2021-11-11/

 

We can expect the rest of the indoor venues to be the same, I guess. Having lived in Beijing during Covid this doesn't make much sense to me because everything here is usually business as usual, except with masks and health code.  I don't know why for the Olympics in particular we suddenly have to reduce capacity.  It's disappointing because, as with everything in China, it was already going to be hard to get tickets because everything is always snatched up by large companies right away and you basically have to be a local to understand how to get them (i.e. air, train and sporting events).  Now we know it'll be impossible.  Very disappointing because a big part of the reason I stayed here this year was for the Olympics. Now we're sure we won't be able to attend, and there will be no atmosphere, we'll just watch at home like I could have done anywhere.  I live so close to most of the Beijing venues, I had dreams of scootering over to catch a hockey game before hopping to catch some speed skating.  Very sad now.  

 

Having said that, Beijing is experiencing a "mild" outbreak again so things are getting crazy.  Probably due to the Olympics, a new policy is going into effect tomorrow where you cannot enter Beijing if you've been anywhere that has even 1 case in the last 14 days.  You also cannot go to any city with a land border or a port (i.e. Shanghai or Guangzhou).  So basically we are locked into Beijing until after the Olympics at least.  Now I know how the residents of Tokyo felt.  You suffer due to hosting, but you get nothing in return.  Even as a huge Olympic fan, it stings.  It probably stings more as a fan.  

[orangeman 1,419]

[orangeman 1,419]

[orangeman 1,419]

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[orangeman 1,419]

I live very close to the Shougang Big Air venue here in Beijing.  I visited it a couple of weeks ago.  It's in a park created from a reclaimed industrial area.  There's a nice brew-pub there I went to a few times without realizing an actual venue was right there.  It's an Olympic park with various Olympic offices and broadcasting centers.  It's quite nice, but I wonder how it'll read on TV.  As others have seen from the stock photos here, it is still quite industrial looking with what looks like nuclear reactors right next to the hill.  It's cool post-industrial in person, but we'll see how it comes off on TV.  There's a nice Chinese building in front of it, too.  I'm not sure what it is, if it's related to the venue.  I couldn't get too close because things are still under construction, covid and general Chinese security.  

 

 

 

 

[orangeman 1,419]

I live in Beijing and everything is pretty much normal here now, and has been for months (there was a little scare in February, something like 6 confirmed cases).  I can see them barring international visitors, but there's no reason to postpone if Tokyo is going forward and they're in a much tougher spot.  China has strict quarantine rules (3 weeks mandatory government observed quarantine) but they want to reopen borders with some countries.  The issue right now is other countries accepting the Chinese vaccinations as legit.  Postponing the Olympics would pretty much be admitting that the Chinese one is not legit.  I'd be really surprised if they postponed it.