For anyone watching the Beijing Olympics, everything looks great, but behind the scenes, it's a disaster.
The Guardian reported Sunday that the two main issues are weather and the COVID crisis.
"The Swedes have suggested that the conditions in the mountains are perilously cold," said the report. "A Polish skater says she was living in fear in a Beijing isolation ward and has 'cried until I have no more tears.' The Finns have claimed an ice hockey player is being kept in Covid quarantine for no reason. And the Germans? They are frustrated that there is no hot food at the downhill skiing."
The main problem facing those on the mountains is that the International Ski Federation takes temperature into consideration before pausing an event, but in this case, they have ignored wind chills. The result was a horrific photo of downhill skiers collapsed at the end of the course. On Sunday, the men's event was paused due to high winds.
Skiers collapse at end of race\nh/t DeFodi Images/Getty Imagespic.twitter.com/XbPhtW4AyQ— edgery #VaccinesAreSafe #WearAMask (@edgery #VaccinesAreSafe #WearAMask) 1644180090
“If FIS says it’s -17 degrees and it’s windy, and it’s -35 degrees with the wind chill, what do you do then?" asked Swedish team boss Anders Bystroem.
Meanwhile, dealing with COVID in the Olympic bubble isn't going well either. Typically, the Olympics is about the international camaraderie of athletes, but with the virus, teammates are being confined away from people.
"Those in an isolation ward are allowed out if they are free of symptoms and have two negative Covid tests 24 hours apart and [Polish speed skater Natalia] Maliszewska was eventually released back to the Olympic village – before being told there had been a mistake," said the Guardian.
“Since a week I have been living in fear and these changes in mood," she said. "I cry until I have no more tears and make not only the people around me worry but myself too."
"People got me out of my room at 3am,” she said. “This night was a horror, I slept in my clothes in my bed because I was afraid that at any moment someone would take me back to isolation. Then a message that unfortunately they were mistaken, that I am a threat, and should not have been released from isolation. I have to get back to the Olympic Village as soon as possible. I can’t understand this anymore. I no longer believe in any tests, any Olympics. To me this is a big joke, I hope whoever is managing this has a lot of fun. My heart and my mind can’t take this anymore."
She's not the only one. Finnish ice hockey player Marko Anttila has been forced into COVID isolation for no reason.
"From a medical perspective we know that a person like this is no longer infectious, no danger to the other team," said Finnish doctor Maarit Valtonen. "These isolation decisions are not based on medicine or science, it’s more cultural and political decisions."
Finland's head coach, Jukka Jalonen, noted that the isolation is impacting Anttila’s mental health too.
"We know that he’s fully healthy and that’s why we think that China, for some reason, won’t respect his human rights and that’s not a great situation," he explained.
Germany’s coach Christian Schwaiger complained that there was no hot food amid the freezing temperatures.
"The catering is extremely questionable, because really it’s not catering at all," he explained. "I would have expected that the Olympic Committee is capable of providing hot meals. There are crisps, some nuts and chocolate and nothing else."
The photos of the collapsed women’s skiathlon competitors haven't made it to NBC News, nor has the network provided any reports on the difficult conditions. There were fears going into the Olympics the network wouldn't address the human rights issues of China. It wasn't anticipated that athletes would face basic needs that couldn't be met.
