While nearly every Olympic Games draws some form of controversy, the 2022 Beijing Olympics could take the gold medal.
A number of countries announced diplomatic boycotts of the Games over concerns about what the U.S. has labeled “genocide” in China. Foreign spectators are banned because of China’s “Zero Covid” pandemic strategy. Even NBC, the U.S. network airing the competition, will be originating some broadcasts from its Connecticut complex, where 84 commentators are feeling heat over what they might say on air that could anger the contentious country.
That’s just the start. There will doubtlessly be more drama after Friday’s opening ceremony.
The only other option in the bidding process was Kazakhstan—and neither country is much of a democracy. Multiple European countries dropped out of the running because of a fear of cost overruns or constraints by rejections in voter referendums. That left two autocracies standing when the International Olympic Committee made its decision in 2015. Since then, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused China of genocide and crimes against humanity for its treatment of the Uighur ethnic minority. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said last year that Kazakhstan is a country where torture occurs “with impunity” and violence against women and girls persists “as a serious problem.” Still, money talks, and China has plenty of it, making for awkward and complicated gyrations for people looking to do business there without angering customers back home. Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya took heat last month after dismissing concerns about the plight of the Uighurs. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was criticized for opening a car showroom in the region where the Uighurs have been forced to live. And organizations like the NBA have backed off from bad-mouthing a nation where they see dollar signs.
The National Ski Jumping Center in Zhangjiakou, northwest of Beijing, is using snowmaking machines.
For the first time, all the snow used for the Olympics will be artificial. Contrary to recent reports that making the snow will require 49 million gallons of water, the people producing it say the actual amount is almost ten times more. (The Chinese Olympic Committee didn’t respond to a request for comment.) China will pay $56 million for the equipment to manufacture 2.5 million cubic meters of artificial snow, enough to fill two Empire State Buildings, according to TechnoAlpin, the sole artificial snow-provider for the 2022 Games.
The family-owned Italian company is using nearly 300 fan guns and 51 high-pressure pumps, among other snow-producing equipment, to service four Olympic venues, says Michael Mayr, TechnoAlpin’s Asia area manager. In total, nearly 360 million gallons of water (which could fill 545 Olympic-sized swimming pools) will be used to produce all that powder. He adds that in the spring, when the Games are long over, the remaining melted snow will be drained and cleaned, and some will be returned to the lake where it originated.
China could expect to pay between $100,000 and $200,000 just in electricity to make the fake snow, says Philip Jones, vice president of green business solutions for environmental and energy consulting group EMS Environmental.
Last week, the Chinese government reported it was fighting “unfavorable” weather in attempts to clear dangerous smog.
Chinese performers during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Paralympic Games at Beijing's National Stadium.
China wowed the world with its presentation of the 2008 Beijing Summer Games and had the bill to prove it: $40 billion. This year’s effort was initially reported to cost $3.9 billion, on par with what most other countries spend on the Winter Games, which has many fewer athletes competing than the Summer Games. However, the actual sum may be more than $38.5 billion—ten times the official budget, according to a recent Business Insider report. This year’s opening ceremony will last less than 100 minutes and feature roughly 3,000 actors, down from four hours and 15,000 actors for Beijing 2008. The country will also reuse many of the venues it built for the 2008 Summer Games, when the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions reported that 1.5 million residents were displaced to build stadiums and arenas. (Chinese officials denied this.) For this year’s Games, the National Aquatics Center—the swimming venue from the 2008 Olympics, better known as the Water Cube—has been adapted for curling while arenas that once hosted basketball and gymnastics events will be the site of hockey games. The National Speed Skating Oval, dubbed the Ice Ribbon, is the only major new indoor venue for 2022.
Most Olympic Games come with a frenzy of on-site dealmaking. Not this year, thanks to strict Covid-19 protocols and a very limited number of spectators being allowed into competition venues. That’s a wet blanket on what’s normally a marketing bazaar for brands that negotiated a presence years before and typically show up to wine and dine customers and clients from around the globe. Already primed by the limited attendance at last year’s Tokyo Summer Games, most companies won’t be flying employees or VIP clients to China. The athletes will bear the brunt of the cancellations as they miss out on an easy opportunity to connect with potential sponsors. However, some American sponsors and athlete representatives are reportedly planning to gather in Park City, Utah, for a satellite event to preserve the networking opportunity.
Medical staff in personal protective kits at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing on January 29.
Just two weeks ago, about 20 million Chinese were in lockdown—a very effective lockdown, according to government officials, who reported zero deaths from the virus in the country in the last year. (Athletes better hope the same accounting isn’t employed for the judged events.) Olympic organizers said Monday that they had detected 119 Covid-19 cases among athletes and personnel in the past four days.
Former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Russia said that despite the country’s growing military buildup along the Ukraine border, the immediate threat of all-out war between the two nations will drop sharply after Friday’s opening ceremony. Last week, Michael McFaul, the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, tweeted: “I find it hard to believe Putin will invade Ukraine while his closest partner in the world is hosting the Olympics. If I’m right, diplomacy has some more time.” If he’s wrong, it’s war.
The U.S. will pay $37,500 for each gold medal an athlete wins, regardless of whether they’re competing individually or as part of a team.
Medals have been issued to Olympic champions since the first modern Games were held in Athens in 1896, but gold wasn’t part of the lineup until a few years later, when winners received gilded silver medals in Paris in 1900 and then actual gold in St. Louis in 1904. Solid gold was ditched by 1916, and today the International Olympic Committee specifies that winners’ medals must be at least 92.5% silver, coated with at least six grams of gold. The weight and exact composition of the 2022 gold medals have not been released, but for comparison, the precious metals in each gold medal at last year’s Tokyo Olympics were worth $820, according to CNBC. A historic medal can be a shrewd investment. In 2013, billionaire Ron Burkle set a record for Olympic memorabilia when he paid nearly $1.5 million for one of Jesse Owens’ gold medals from the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Curling is one of the quirkier sports of the Winter Games, famous for its athletes scurrying down the ice with brooms. Manufacturer Kays Scotland fashioned 164 curling stones for the Games and shipped the best 132 to Beijing. Each one is worth about $750, minus the cost of the handle.
Although the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee is a federally chartered nonprofit, it does not receive federal financial support for its athletic programs. Instead, it relies on tax-deductible donations from the public. Athletes aren’t as lucky. The Internal Revenue Service will charge athletes who make more than $1 million in prizes and endorsements a 37% tax on each medal cash prize.