orangeman

As a Habs fan, glad to see 3 former Canadiens on the roster for Canada (I realize this sentence must be very confusing to non-NHL followers). Carr, Desharnais and Staal (2010 gold medal winner, btw). And yes, also as a Habs fan very weird to see Chelios on Team China. Edit: How could I forget Jordan Weal! That makes four former Habs! Edit 2: There's actually 6 former Habs on the roster. Barberio and Ellis (taxi squad).

I don't know about the exact area around the alpine venue, but the city of Beijing itself is often quite windy, especially in winter. So I voted YES.

I initially wrote that I wasn't sure if he'd be there due to covid. I also was going to say Lawes, but then thinking about curling it got all messy because Jones and Gushue are also both gold medalists, and Morris also has two (but would be competing that day and the next). But yeah, curlers of some combination would make sense.

Yes, sorry, I meant ice dance, not pairs. I just think, "two skaters".

The first part (0 medals) I agree with. Curling (3) Of course we expect three medals, preferably three golds. Hockey(2) Same. Are you having a stroke? Snowboarding (3-8): Men's Slopstyle and Big Air could sweep. They could also not get any medals. Women's slopestyle and Big Air: 0-2 Boarder cross: 0-3 Free Ski (5-7): Men's moguls, women's and men's halfpipe, ski cross always comes through (Canadian women have won every gold in this event since it started, and 5/9 medals). Team Arials has a chance. Ski big air, let's see what happens. Canada has topped the Free ski the last two Olympics, and always been top-2. Speed skating (5-8): I'm sure of Men's 500, Women's Pursuit, Women's Mass Start. Then some mix of Men's 5000, 10000, Men's Pursuit, Women's 3000, 5000. Short Track (2-6): I agree, hard to predict. Canada should be in every final. Bobsled (2-3): Justin Kripps should get up on the podium at least in one of his events, if not both. Women could pull out another one or two. Figure Skating (0-1): Probably Canada's first blank in figure skating since 1980. The only hope is in Pairs. A distant hope. But hey, distant hopes came though a few times for us in this sport, like in 2006. I predict 25-32 medals, with around 8-10 golds. It's a wide range because a lot of these sports (free ski, snowboard, short track) can be decided on one slip. For most Canadians, it comes down to the success of our hockey and curling teams. In 2014 it was 4/4 golds. In 2018 we got a gold, silver and bronze out of the 5. First time without a traditional curling medal. Not good. Not tolerated again.

Are we guessing who will be the Opening Ceremonies flag bearer yet? It should be announced pretty soon. My guess is Justin Kripps. Defending gold medalist, strong medal contender in two events in Beijing and doesn't compete until later in the schedule. What are your picks?

Haha. Unlike Vancouver it certainly is cold enough to snow here, it's just so dry. It's still snowing now and it's supposed to keep going until tomorrow. But it'll be gone in a few days.

Haha. Unlike Vancouver it certainly is cold enough to snow here, it's just so dry. It's still snowing now and it's supposed to keep going until tomorrow. But it'll be gone in a few days.

I have that hat!

It's snowing in Beijing! Second time this winter, first since November.

I don't know. I was told you had to be in Beijing for 14 days before and after the event you are attending, self-reporting with tests. If you already have tickets then maybe there are exceptions, but even being in Beijing we'll see what these new cases here does to everything. I've learned never to expect nice things the last 2 years.

Hoping for more than a few, haha. One of, if not the, best speed skating teams all around Canada has put together. Very excited to see what they can do.

I can't say too much right now, but there are things happening through various businesses and organizations to get people in the stands, including non-Chinese spectators. You have to be in Beijing, and not leave Beijing, as well as other restrictions, but there is no shortage of interest. Things can change, especially with this new case in the city, but having a diverse audience seems to be one of their priorities.

Beijing has its first reported case of Omicron, specifically in the district I live in (Haidian). https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/beijing-covid-19-first-local-omicron-case-china-outbreaks-2437546 Schools will go online this week (and the next if they're still not on Lunar New Year break). The LNY break will also be extended to cover the whole Olympics. Haidian is in the western part of the city, and will host several events like short track, figure skating, some of the hockey matches and big air competitions. Beijing instituted a rule in December that if you visited any city or area that ends up having a case in the last 14 days you would not be allowed to re-enter the capital. If you already returned, you must self-quarantine immediately at home. I had some friends that were forced to do that after returning from Xi'an, which has been on lockdown for several weeks now. I went shopping to stock up today and hope we don't end up like Xi'an or the other cities currently on lockdown. Right now it's just the one case, so fingers crossed it won't get worse.

Yeah, I know lots of people, mostly Americans and Brits, who only care about snowboard (freestyle) when it comes to the Winter Olympics. It very much attracts lots of casual viewers who probably wouldn't be interested in the WOG otherwise. I'm doing my part, trying to ease them into freestyle skiing since it's mostly the same thing. And, of course, curling.

I agree that the field is deep. Here is my projection just for fun: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Fair enough, but lots of people are underestimating Jennifer Jones, the only female rink to go undefeated at the Olympics. Not to mention Kaitlyn Lawes who won gold in mixed doubles in 2018.

I thought they would choose Morris/Homan because they both have the experience of going to the Olympics and Morris is of course half of the defending Olympic gold medalist team. As others have said, any pick would have been controversial, and the reality is any one of the teams in the running could win gold. I'm personally not sure if Homan is a BIG game performer, but we'll find out.

Interesting. When I came to China in October 2020 Beijing just opened up direct flights and Toronto was one of them (lucky for me). There were only a couple of other cities at the time, but I know Tokyo was not one of them. Just one or two in Europe, and maybe HK, but not any in the US. HK being an approved hub is interesting because they have the same quarantine rules as the Mainland, in that you have to do minimum 2 weeks in a government approved quarantine hotel (might be up to 3 weeks now). AFAIK, HK is not allowing layover flights either, so using that as your entry into Beijing would be unfeasible for Olympians. It is still very hard to find flights in and out of China, especially Beijing, and they are incredibly expensive. I would imagine most NOCs would charter flights, that would make more sense.

Wow, great job. Nitpicking, but I disagree about Canada's chances at curling. I know our rinks dropped the ball in 2018 and the rest of the world is catching up, but I don't see Jennifer Jones missing the podium. She is the only female skip to go undefeated at the Olympics (2014), and her third is the defending champ in the mixed event from 2018. They're both big game performers. Mixed doubles, who knows especially since Canada had to cancel their trials and the team will just be selected. Everything else looks good for Canada, although I might argue freestyle and snowboarding are underrepresented. But those sports can be unpredictable, especially this year. I'd be very happy with those speed skating results, both long and short track (though I hope Canada comes through in the new mixed relay). At the end of the day, the total medals are realistic, though I'd hope for more golds. Great job! Better than the official outlets.

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.

I'm in Beijing now, 15 minutes from the hockey venue. I took this job a few years ago with visions of seeing Team Canada play. Now....I'll be lucky if I get to see a bobsled session. I've been waiting years for this moment, for the whole Olympics to be in the city I'm living in, and it's just poof, gone. I'll watch it in my living room like I could have done from anywhere in the world. I know this might be controversial, but screw covid.

I'm not too familiar with mixed curling, but I'd imagine Morris/Homan are the favourites here. They were both in Pyeongchang and Morris is a double Olympic gold medalist (in mens and mixed doubles). While Homan flamed out in Korea, she's won multiple national and world medals. I think Einarson and Jacobs will challenge them, though. But who knows, this is a very unpredictable event that isn't really competed by most of these curlers. I really look forward to watching over the holidays.

Gotta love throwing stones with a cigarette in his mouth. I can understand why this wasn't an Olympic sport until the 90s now.

Congrats to for making it in the doubles curling. Maybe all the other curling teams will suddenly fall down on the final stone and Australia will sneak in for the win!