The day Elana Meyers Taylor, the flag bearer for Team USA, was scheduled to lead her country into the Olympic Stadium, she was instead locked away in a Chinese isolation hotel. She was quarantined and watched the Opening Ceremony on TV after she tested positive for Covid-19.
The Olympics Sadder Quieter Scarier.
Mrs. Meyers Taylor can count herself among the fortunate. She made a speedy recovery, and now she’s one of the favourites to win medals in two different bobsled events.
Luck is relative in the gloom of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Olympics are intended to be a celebration of sport on a worldwide scale, but this year’s events have been everything but upbeat. Unlike the Olympic motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger—Together,” the Beijing Games have been more subdued and reflective so far.
Olympians often compete in front of empty stadiums, away from their loved ones. Some athletes choose to practise and even compete while wearing N95 masks to prevent the spread of disease. The rest worry every day that they will fail a test, be sent to isolation, and have to watch their years of training go to waste.
Natalia Maliszewska Positive and She was put in isolation
Polish short-track speedskater Natalia Maliszewska was mistakenly taken from her hotel at 3 a.m. the night before her competition and placed in isolation. She later tested positive, and she was put back in isolation as a result.
Ms. Maliszewska characterised the situation as “a tremendous joke” for herself. For the sake of whoever is in charge, I hope you have a blast. My emotions and intellect have reached their breaking points.
As if competing in the Olympics wasn’t difficult enough, a global pandemic has compressed the entire event to fit inside a stifling bubble, amplifying the regular stresses, strains, and tolls of competing.
After testing positive for Covid-19 this week, American figure skater Vincent Zhou was forced to spend the week in isolation.
After missing out on the chance to compete at the individual level (he skated in the team event instead), he was now waiting for the results of two negative PCR tests that would release him.
‘I’ve done all the safeguards I can,’ he sobbed on Instagram. I’ve been so reclusive over the past month or so that the feelings of isolation sometimes be overwhelming.
For the past ten years, there have been underlying problems at each Olympic Games. Terrorism was a concern in Sochi. Zika was found in Rio.
Last Words
Athletes in Beijing stare out of bus windows to watch locals go about their daily lives. Since the street connecting the hockey rink and the curling location is not part of the closed loop, journalists are not permitted to cross it.
The Olympics took on the air of a biosecure soundstage when the Omicron variation prompted a stricter clampdown and no fans were allowed to buy tickets. Thnak for reading our article and The Olympics Sadder Quieter Scarier.
