Fred's, (Used to be Barb's), Board

Believe it or not, it is now "only" 1000 days until the next Winter Olympics

Crazy, wow!

I'm looking forward to this. It should be very interesting.

It seems sport and politics are not far away from each other. Given the political situation right now, I wonder if Canadians will even be allowed to go. I pray for a swift resolution to the present crisis, mostly for all the individuals involved.

Just revealed - "Bing Dwen Dwen is the official mascot of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022! With a suit of ice, a heart of gold and a love of all things winter sports, this panda is ready to share the true spirit of the Olympics with the whole world."




++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And "Meet Shuey Rhon Rhon - this Chinese lantern child is the mascot of Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games and has already warmed our hearts!"

Cute, just cute....

After the Nebelhorn Trophy, the full list of countries qualifying to send an entry/entries to Beijing have been identified.

During the Nebelhorn Trophy events in Oberstdorf the draw took place for the judges to be part of the Winter Olympics panels.

The full document pertaining to both the entries and the judges is here: https://www.isu.org/docman-documents-li ... ation-2428

The relevant section about the judges shows that only Canada and China will have judges available to be selected in the on-site draw for all four disciplines:

I expect that now there will be no problems getting Canadian athletes into the Olympics. It's nice to know that Meng Wanzhou is safe & back home. They'll have to be very careful about Covid-19 being carried in by people from all over, but I expect they'll have a good system for checking that.
I hope everyone had a good summer.

Some information in stories by BBC and CBC about the measures planned related to the pandemic, including a "closed loop system" and other measures for participants and the exclusion of foreign spectators:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-sports/58742388





https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/beij ... -1.6193823

Nice pictures! I look forward to these Olympics.

I think it's going to be a great Olympics. I'll also be interested in the Men's & Women's hockey.

The Olympic flame was lit in Greece earlier today.

Those competing for Canada must be fully vaccinated: https://www.tsn.ca/canadian-athletes-mu ... -1.1708953

Today the "kit" for the Olympians and Paralympians who will represent Canada was revealed - modelled by Olympians. They are from Lululemon who has taken over the contract.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/olym ... -1.6225844

Piper and Paul were among the models


This is the outfit for the closing ceremonies as tweeted by Nam Nguyen

With 100 days to go to the opening ceremonies on February 4th, the design of the 2022 medals has been revealed. They echo the jade-inlaid ones from the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2022 Beijing will become the first city to host both the summer and winter Olympics.

As various countries are finishing their national championships, including figure skating, we are starting to hear who they will be sending to Beijing.

The event website: https://olympics.com/ioc/beijing-2022

The full schedule of events: https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/schedule/

The schedule for the figure skating events has been published (subject to change): https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/sc ... e-skating/
All times are local to Beijing which is 11 hours ahead of ET that means, for example, that a team event starting on Friday at 10 a.m. will be Thursday at 9 p.m. for those of us in Ontario. It also means that events starting at 6 p.m. (1800 h) will mean earning mornings for us (5 a.m.).

Friday Feb 4
10:02 - 11:15 - Team Event - Men Single Skating - SP
11:41 - 12:54 - Team Event - Ice Dance - Rhythm Dance
13:22 - 14:55 - Team Event - Pair Skating -Short Program

Sunday Feb 6
9:37 - 10:50 - Team Event - Women Single Skating - SP
11:57 - 12:44 - Team Event - Pair Skating - Free Skating

Monday Feb 7
9:22 - 10:01 - Team Event - Men Single Skating - FS
10:31 - 11:10 - Team Event - Ice Dance - Free Dance
11:37 - 12:16 - Team Event - Women Single Skating - FS

Tuesday Feb 8
9:22 - 13:30 - Men Single Skating - Short Program

Thursday Feb 10
9:38 - 13:27 - Men Single Skating - Free Skating

Saturday Feb 12
19:07 - 22:38 - Ice Dance - Rhythm Dance

Monday Feb 14
9:22 - 12:36 - Ice Dance - Free Dance

Tuesday Feb 15
18:08 - 22:25 - Women Single Skating - Short Program

Thursday Feb 17
18:08 - 21:57 - Women Single Skating - Free Skating

Friday Feb 18
18:38 - 21:43 - Pair Skating - Short Program

Saturday Feb 19
19:08 - 21:53 - Pair Skating - Free Skating

Sunday Feb 20
12:00 - 14:30 - Exhibition Gala

An explanation of the timelines the athletes are facing in these COVID-times:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/the-buzzer-ne ... -1.6300935

Allison REED & Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS, who train at I.AM, competed at the Nebelhorn Trophy and won the right for Lithuania to send an ice dance team to Beijing. Unfortunately, Allison Reed's application for Lithuanian citizenship has been rejected again (after an appeal to the highest level), which means no Olympics for them. It appears that another dance team, Paulina Ramanauskaite & Deividas Kizala, will represent LIT. I have no idea if they actually have the minimum scores required to compete.

Meanwhile, good news from Spain (ESP) - Marco Zandron has received Spanish citizenship which means that Barquero/Zandron will be able to compete in Pairs in Beijing.

An article about the current issues for skaters (and other athletes) hoping to compete in Beijing and the need to avoid COVID: https://www.wsj.com/articles/olympics-f ... 641240920?
This is a concern for the Canadian & US skaters set to compete this week and hoping to be selected to the Olympic teams.

It could be a very loooooong 30 days for those trying to qualify, to stay free of the virus, to travel there, and to get to compete!!

Yes, Elizabeth, that goes for al of the competitors, I am not very hopeful that the games will actually happen.

Well you have a very determined country hosting that does not want to "lose face" and an equally determined IOC that doesn't want to lose $$ so I'm afraid they are going to push forward, despite the risks or issues Just today there was a meeting where they (the IOC) emphasized living by the "playbook" even before entering into the restrictions onsite. They detailed how positive results on site would be handled, etc.

I’m in complete agreement with you Elizabeth that the games will proceed.
However there is also the possibility that the Chinese government could ban entry of countries that have very high Covid rates..

CBC has announced their figure skating analysts for Beijing 2022 alongside Brenda Irving:

• Kurt Browning
• Carol Lane
• Kaetlyn Osmond
• Meagan Duhamel
• Tessa Virtue

Read all about their programming plans and full broadcast team: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/cbc- ... -1.6310431

Their dedicated website: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics

"Clap, don't chant" - that's just one of the restrictions athletes (and others) will face in Beijing. This article details some of the plans for the Olympic "bubble": https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/clap-don- ... -1.5741420

Some media members, like photographer Danielle Earl and reporter Lori Ewing, will be travelling from Vancouver to Tokyo to Beijing two weeks from today.

I wish everyone well!!