Tag: Beijing (China)

Snow and Wind Postpone Events in Beijing

Chin@Strategy

After more than a week of competition on courses lined with machine-made snow, actual snow and high winds forced the postponement or cancellation of at least three Olympic events on Sunday as flurries blanketed courses and slippery roads made getting to them difficult. Yes, the Winter Olympics can be too wintry — even in Beijing and its surroundings, a region that gets little natural snow and had seen barely a dusting of it thus far during the Games. A steady snow that began Saturday intensified on Sunday in Zhangjiakou, a…

With Valieva, Doping Concerns Extend to a New Generation of Olympians

Chin@Strategy

The announcement that Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skating star, had tested positive for a banned substance echoed another dark Olympic era. And it sent a chilling reminder that female athletes in certain sports have long been considered disposable in countries that support state-sponsored doping. From the late 1960s until the late 1980s, East Germany, a country of fewer than 17 million people, kept pace in the Olympic medal chase with the United States and the Soviet Union with systematic doping known by the bland euphemism “Supporting Means.” The…

A New Technique is Revolutionizing Speedskating’s Team Pursuit

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BEIJING — In speedskating’s team pursuit, the three team members skate single file, so close together that they move as if they were one six-legged skater, pushing and gliding in perfect unison. The race hasn’t changed much through the years. But when the men’s team pursuit races begin here on Sunday, several countries will deploy a strategy that has upended conventional skating wisdom and helped the United States set a world record. Traditionally, the lead skater peels off the front of the train every lap or two and reattaches to…

Nils van der Poel, Swedish Speedskater, Has Something to Say

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In the 10,000, skaters must push themselves to skate just below their maximum effort, and then hold on for dear life through 25 laps. Van der Poel’s training for the event differs from most of his competitors in that it includes no strength training. Instead, in the spring and summer he does enormous amounts of low-intensity training, like those ultramarathons and bike rides. When speedskating season arrives in the fall and winter, van der Poel switches to high-intensity training, but mostly only speedskating itself. He estimates that he has skated…

Nathan Chen Wins Gold at Men’s Free Skate

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In his final practice before skating for the Olympic gold medal, Nathan Chen made sure to take in the moment. He stood alone at the edge of the rink in Beijing on Thursday and looked around at the stands and the arena, and at the Olympic rings at every turn. Unlike at the 2018 Winter Games, when he finished fifth overall, he was soaking in the experience of competing at the Olympics, win or lose. And with that new appreciation, and also a well deserved rush of joy, Chen won.…

Nathan Chen Is Winning by Not Trying So Hard to Win

Chin@Strategy

BEIJING — Nathan Chen, the favorite yet again to win the Olympic gold medal in men’s figure skating, is caught between wanting to forget the 2018 Games and needing to remember them. Before the figure skating competition started at the Beijing Games, he stood before reporters and was asked if he had regrets from his Olympic debut, when he uncharacteristically faltered in the short program and ruined his chance of winning a medal. “I have a pretty terrible memory,” he said, making it clear that he didn’t want to talk…

John-Henry Krueger Won a Medal for the U.S. but Now Skates for Hungary

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At age 16, John-Henry moved to Salt Lake City to train with the American national team, spending three years there but missing a chance to compete in the 2014 Olympics after contracting the swine flu. Krueger next lived in South Korea, where short track is practically the national sport, and later the Netherlands, joining his American compatriots for only a few months each year on the World Cup circuit. Explore the Games A few months after the 2018 Olympics, Krueger moved to Budapest, this time joining Cole, who was already…

The Day in Olympic Falls: Snow, Ice, Tracks and Hills

Chin@Strategy

They fell on the snow and they fell on the ice. They fell on flat tracks and steep hills. They fell on their backs and their hips and, most jarringly, at least one fell going as fast as she could. The Olympics have long been about successes and reaching higher than anyone else. But getting to those heights sometimes means living on the edge. Even the best athletes at the Beijing Games understand that their gold medal dreams can end in an instant. Mikaela Shiffrin found that out again on…

Do Airbags Make Things Too Easy for Aerial Snowboarders and Skiiers?

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ZHANGJIAKOU, China — In the Olympic-level snowboarding and freestyle skiing world, there is an innocuous-sounding compound word that almost always evokes a visceral reaction — a deep sigh, a shaking of the head, a knowing nod. Airbags. Nothing has revolutionized the halfpipe, slopestyle and big air competitions quite like giant airbags. And nothing has so divided devotees of the events, who see airbags either as useful training tools or a misguided shortcut to success, even cheating. “Airbags have become like the performance-enhancing drug for freestyle skiing and snowboarding over the…

Downhill Men’s Skiing Race Postponed Because of High Winds

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The men’s downhill race at the Beijing Olympics on Sunday was postponed a day because of high winds, conditions that had contributed to competitors’ unease about a high-speed dash down an icy, unfamiliar racecourse. After several delays to Sunday’s scheduled start and a meeting at the base of the mountain with leaders of the local organizing committee, the F.I.S., which is skiing’s world governing body, and the Olympic Broadcasting System, organizers announced that the race will take place at noon on Monday between the first and second heats of the…