Beijing (AP) – Amidst helpers in protective suits, the German Olympians posed for the first selfies on the runway.
The delegation of around 150, which arrived in Beijing on Lufthansa flight LH 724 on Sunday, got their first impression of the Olympic parallel world in Corona times immediately after landing. Behind the mask and visor, the smile of the Chinese reception committee was difficult to see before the strictly organized bus trip to the athletes’ villages began after the mandatory PCR tests. Welcome to the strictly closed Olympic bubble.
“We are expecting special challenges that have not been seen before at the Winter Games,” said Head of Mission Dirk Schimmelpfennig of the German Press Agency. When the other large travel groups of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) board the plane to China on Monday and Tuesday, there is also the fear of a positive test on arrival. The Omicron variant drives the number of infections at home to record highs. It is therefore “a demanding task” to get free of the virus in Beijing’s “closed cycle”, said Schimmelpfennig.
Already 34 new corona cases
The organizers reported 34 new corona cases among Olympic participants from all over the world on Sunday. A total of 139 infections have been detected in the close controls at the airport and in the corona bubble since January 23. On Sunday, the chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Finn Emma Terho, also confirmed a positive test.
The numbers are within expectations, said Medical Expert Council chief Brian McCloskey. In view of the wave of arrivals just before the opening of the games on Friday, the numbers would rise even further. “But we’re confident that the system we’ve put in place is the right one,” McCloskey said.
Among the corona cases was a supervisor from the German advance command. Anyone who has contracted the virus will be isolated in a specially designated hotel. Only after two negative PCR tests at least 24 hours apart can those affected leave before the end of ten days. After this period, only a negative PCR test is required. For some participants, however, the Olympic dream could burst with a positive test.
Skeleton pilot Hannah Neise went almost straight from quarantine to Beijing. The previously infected woman from Winterberg was allowed to board the plane on Saturday evening after the four negative PCR tests required by the organizers. Teammate Axel Jungk, on the other hand, still has to wait for further negative tests and hope that he can travel on Friday. Both had probably been infected at the World Cup finals in St. Moritz.
Weikert: “Olympic flair not so there”
Despite all the concerns about China’s tough zero-Covid strategy, the vast majority of German athletes decided to start, emphasized DOSB boss Thomas Weikert in the ZDF “Sportstudio”. After all, they had been preparing for the competitions on snow and ice for years. But Weikert also admitted: “It’s a fact, the Olympic flair isn’t there like it was.” Foreign fans are excluded, only selected Chinese spectators are allowed to attend. “This takes away some of the joy from the athletes when they win,” said Weikert.
Accommodations fenced off with privacy screens and the severely restricted freedom of movement also put a damper on the mood. After all, the athletes probably expect pretty perfect competition conditions. Even if the mountains away from the cross-country ski runs and pistes in Zhangjiakou and Yanqing are brown-grey instead of wintry snowy, the Olympians were impressed with their training impressions. “Impressive” and “great” wrote ski racer Josef Ferstl on Instagram about pictures of some downhill turns.
The Olympic organizers should like that. The organizers hope that the sporting headlines will soon push the sensitive Corona issue aside. “These games are a great opportunity for global winter sports and the athletes,” asserted IOC boss Thomas Bach. If only the athletes could win over 300 million Chinese interested in winter sports as new fans. But the Olympians cannot hit any of them at these Winter Games.