Whom to root for at the Olympics? Schedule of the Games and the main contenders for medals On February 4, 2022, the Winter Olympics in Beijing will officially start, although the first competitions have already begun. Russia
Whom to root for at the Olympics? Schedule of the Games and the main contenders for medals
On February 4, 2022, the Beijing Winter Olympics will officially start, although the first competitions have already begun. Russia is considered a favorite in figure skating, skiing, biathlon and hockey. For Olympic gold (and other types of precious metals) 212 athletes went to China, including 12 representatives of the Chelyabinsk region. They will represent the country in all disciplines and have set themselves the goal of winning 30 medals and a place in the top 3 team standings. We'll find out how well they'll achieve this goal on February 20th, when the last winners will receive their rewards.
To make it easier for you to follow the competitions, we have compiled an Olympic calendar for you, where we marked the competition and medal days and, of course, the opening and closing dates of the Games.
Keep this calendar handy so you don't miss the biggest events of the Olympics
Infographics: Vitaly Kalistratov / Network of City Portals
There is, of course, the popular belief that the winner of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be the coronavirus. Some of the athletes pass positive PCR tests even before leaving for the competition, someone already in the Olympic Village finds out that, most likely, he will not be able to compete due to covid. The passenger infected with the coronavirus, as it turned out, flew to China on the same plane with the Norwegian Olympians. What will happen to them now, who will need them in Beijing if they get sick en masse? Everything is changing so rapidly that it is almost impossible to predict the favorites of the 2022 Games. But we will imagine that no one will fail, and we will name those who have every chance of winning the Olympic gold.
Figure skating. Kamila Valieva, Russia
Needless to say, Kamila Valieva is Russia's main hope for gold in figure skating.
In 2018, she began to train under the legendary Eteri Tutberidze and began to win her first serious awards: the Russian Championship and the World Junior Championship. A year before the Olympics, Valiyeva was considered too young for the main team, but in 2021 she gave out just an outstanding season. She jumped a quadruple sheepskin coat, became the winner of the Grand Prix stages in Canada and Russia, and at the same time won the European Championship, thereby guaranteeing herself a place in the national team at the Beijing Olympics.
And in general, in women's single skating, Russia is one step away from historical success: our girls claim the entire podium. Together with Camila, world champion Anna Shcherbakova and world championship medalist Alexandra Trusova can climb it.There are no equivalent competitors for Russian figure skaters now.
Ski race. Alexander Bolshunov, Russia
Bolshunov goes to Beijing for the title. Any other result will not suit him. Four years ago, barely leaving the hospital, Alexander took three silver and bronze at the Games, and it was a sensation.
During the Olympic cycle, Alexander Bolshunov went from a bright debutant to the best skier in the world. He never returned from the main starts of the season without awards, and a year ago he took important gold in the skiathlon at the World Championships. Now Bolshunov has all the titles: he was the first Russian to win the World Cup (twice), won the Tour de Ski in the most difficult stage race, collected eight World Championship medals. The main award – Olympic gold – is missing.
Skiing. Mikaela Shiffrin, USA
American Mikaela Shiffrin is one of the strongest representatives of alpine skiing today. In addition, she is the youngest ever Olympic champion in slalom, the record holder for the most wins (45) in slalom at the World Cup and the first alpine skier who managed to win the title in one discipline at four world championships in a row. At the 2021 World Championships, she added four medals to her impressive sports resume, including gold in the combination.
At the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, Michaela took gold in the giant slalom and silver in the combination. In addition, the American athlete won gold in slalom at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
Biathlon. Alexander Loginov, Russia
In the 2018/2019 season, Loginov excelled at the World Cup in Oberhof, where he won the sprint gold and finished with the Russian flag in the winning relay. At the World Championships in Östersund, the Saratovite won silver (in the sprint) and bronze (in the relay together with Nikita Porshnev, Matvey Eliseev and Dmitry Malyshko). A year later, at Antholz 2020, Loginov won the gold medal of the World Championship and finished third in the pursuit.
Loginov prepared for the 2020/2021 season on his own. December 2020 turned out to be difficult for Alexander – the athlete lost his father, and health problems did not allow him to show his maximum in competitions. In January 2021, the athlete won gold in the mixed relay at the World Cup in Oberhof, won the individual race and took bronze in the relay at the World Cup in Antholz.
Before the start of the Beijing 2022 Olympics, Loginov won six medals in the season: two golds (relay in Ruhpolding, sprint in Oberhof), two silvers (relay in Antholz, pursuit in Ruhpolding), two bronzes (relay in Östersund, relay in Annecy) .
Figure skating. Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan
Yuzuru Hanyu broke the world record 19 times. He is considered one of the best (if not the best) male figure skaters in history.
The Japanese athlete is the reigning Olympic champion in men's singles, who will undoubtedly fight for victory at the 2022 Games in Beijing.He will try to win the Olympic gold for the third time in a row, that in this form it was not possible to make anyone since 1928. The Japanese phenomenon is not accustomed to create history. He is the first Olympic champion among Men from Asia, the youngest winner of the Olympiad since 1948 and the only figure skater in the male single skating, who managed to win all the main competition in the junior and adult level and collect super school.
Skating. Pavel Kulizhnikov, Russia
What medals are not in the collection of Pavel Kulizhnikov. But the Olympic medals have not yet gotten. And not because I did not win – I did not participate. In 2014, a prohibited substance fell into his body together with the energy sector, and he did not hit the Olympics in Sochi. And in Pchenchkhan-2018, Kulizhnikov simply did not invite the IOC.
Now Kulizhnikov was invited, doping did not find. It remains not to pick up the coronavirus along the way, and perhaps the Olympic medal will finally appear in the collection of the fastest skateboard. It will take a worthy place among other awards, which Pavl has accumulated a lot. Kulizhnikov – the main star of speed skating of recent years: the eight-round world champion (three gold in the sprinting all-around, five more – on certain distances), the owner of two world records (by 500 and 1000 meters).
Snowboard. Dmitry Loginov, Russia
In 2019, Dmitry Loginov won two gold at the World Championships, and next season confirmed the title in a giant slalom (Olympic discipline) and took bronze in the usual parallel.
In the World Cup, too, order: this season, Loginov won the stage in Switzerland and goes to the top 3 of the overall standings.
Short track. Susanne Schuulting, Netherlands
In the list of athletes, decent attention at the Olympic tournament on the short track in Beijing, many names. Among them by Lim He-Jun (South Korea), Arianna Fontana (Italy), Brothers Shaolin Shandor Liu and Shaoan Liu (Hungary). However, after Suzanne Schuulting made at the World Cup 2021, all the games at the games will be addressed to the Dutch sensation.
The 23-year-old athlete won gold in every discipline (including all-around), becoming the second woman and the fourth athlete in the history of the short track, who managed to win all the sign at the World Championships. To repeat your achievement in Beijing Schuulting will be hard, but even make sure that it will try to do it, it will be very interesting.
Hockey. Canada
Although the men's and women's national teams in hockey are not the current Olympic champions, they are among the main applicants for the Gold Peking Olympiad. In 2018, in Phenchchana, in the absence of stars NHL, Canadians won bronze in the men's tournament, and the women's team in the match for gold lost to American, interrupting the victorious series, which lasted four Olympiad in a row. The men's team before becoming a bronze medalist in Pyonchhan, won the 2010 championship title in Vancouver and at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
It is highly likely that the NHL elite will return to the Olympic hockey tournament, so Canada will be able to call up world-class players to the national team (for example, two-time Olympic champion and three-time Stanley Cup winner Sidney Crosby). In women's hockey, Canadians are likely to compete again for gold with the US team.
Luge. Roman Repilov, Russia
In 2016, at the age of 20, Repilov won the World Cup and set a record by becoming the youngest trophy winner. Three years later, he repeated his success and again with a unique achievement – none of the Russian lugers won the World Cup twice.
Now Repilov is 25 and at the Games in Beijing he is the main favorite. In addition to success in the World Cup, Roman has three world championship golds.
Luge. Natalie Geisenberger, Germany
The German national team traditionally dominates the luge at the Olympics. German athletes have won 42 medals. Felix Loch, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt shine in the men's and doubles races, but their compatriot Natalie Geisenberger deserves special attention. The athlete is considered the most successful and titled luger in the history of the Olympic Games and World Championships.
At the 2022 Games, Natalie can achieve a unique achievement by winning her third consecutive Olympic gold in the women's competition. This will put the 33-year-old luger on par with Armin Zoggeler in luge medals, with both holding six medals. But if Geisenberger and her teammates in the German national team win the relay again, Natalie will be the undisputed best.
Freestyle. Michael Kingsbury, Canada
Freestyle skiing at the Beijing 2022 Olympics is represented by 13 disciplines. We'll see big names like David Wise (ski halfpipe), Sarah Hefflin (slopestyle) and Perrin Laffon (mogul), but Mikael Kingsbury will be the big star.
The Canadian is the most titled athlete in the history of the mogul, the record holder for the number of victories in the men's World Cup. Mikael had no equal at the freestyle world championships – Kingsbury has the most victories in the history of the tournament. At the same time, the Canadian athlete is the current Olympic champion in mogul.
Snowboarding. Chloe Kim, USA
At the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, Chloe Kim became the youngest champion in the women's halfpipe (she was only 17 years old). This one American athlete was enough to enter the history of the Olympics.
But not only this famous Chloe! Despite her age, she has a lot of awards. The girl is the current world champion, Olympic champion, winner of the World Extreme Games and the Youth Olympics. Thanks to these achievements, Kim is considered one of the main figures in snowboarding.
Skating. Irene Wüst, Netherlands
The Netherlands has traditionally been a leader in speed skating, with a total of 121 Olympic medals won by Dutch athletes in this sport.For comparison: Norwegians who occupy second place in the overall medal standings on speed skating for all winter games, – 84 medals. In Pyonchhan, the Dutch won 16 medals from 42 in a medal set.
As for Irene Vüst, she, in total, brought the Netherlands 11 medals from 121. Thus, she became a skater with the greatest amount of medals for the history of the Winter Olympic Games and the most titled active athlete among the Winter Olympic Sports.
Wuust owns a record for the number of gold medals in an individual discipline on four different Olympic Games. If Wuws again win gold in Beijing, she will beat a new record, becoming the first athlete who won gold medals on five Olympic Games. This record includes medals and on summer, and in winter games.
Bobsled. Francesco Friedrich, Germany
At the age of 25 (since 2015), Friedrich began showing excellent results on world championships and the World Cup. The German has achieved great success in Pyonchkhan, where he mined for the national team of gold and twins, and in the fours. All these achievements make Friedrich the Main Applicant for Medals in Beijing.
The colleagues for the national team were given Friedrich's nickname “Professor” for his modesty, attention to detail, diligence and ability to support other team members.
Skeleton. Tina Hermann, Germany
At the Olympics in Pyonchhan Tina Hermann ranked fifth, but she has other achievements. In particular, she is the first woman who belongs to the title of four-time world champion in the personal event (she has three team gold), winning the world championships for three years in a row (in 2019, 2020 and 2021).
The last title of Hermann champion won in February of this year at the World Championships in German Altenberg, where an incredible struggle unfolded: an athlete showed only the 11th result after the first attempt out of four.
After the difficult season, Hermann will strive to improve its result at the Beijing Olympics.
Ski federal. Yarl Magnus RIIbera, Norway
Yarl Magnus Riir won the Pyonchhana-2018 team silver consisting of the Norwegian national team, as well as two team gold at the World Championships 2019 and 2021. On the same world championships, a 23-year-old athlete conquered individual gold (normal springboard / 10 km). Also, at the end of the season-2020/21, he won his third consecutive “Crystal Globe”, becoming the best in the overall standings of the World Cup.
Ski race. Charlotte Calla, Sweden
The owner of an impressive resume began to engage in skiing at seven years thanks to the grandfather, and today it is the most successful Swedish athlete in the Olympics.
After the victory in the youth world championship in Skiathlon in 2006, Calla rose into one of the leading skiers of Sweden. She took silver in the relay in the four World Championships in a row, from 2011 to 2017. In 2018, at the age of 30, Charlotte did not only successfully performed at the Olympics, but she climbed the pedestal 17 times in other competitions, won 10 victories.
In total, Charlotte Calla won nine medals at games, three of which are gold. Swede became a champion in Vancouver, Sochi and Pyonchhan. At the same time, two gold and one silver skier won on one day (February 15), but in different years. Looks like this day is happy for athletes. It is a pity, on the Olympics in Beijing on February 15 there will be no ski racing.
Biathlon. Johannes Tinnes Boe, Norway
On the career of Johannes, there was a great influence of the older brother of Taria, who also advocated Norwegian national biathlon. Bee-junior debuted at international competitions in the 2012/13 season, and next season ranked third in the overall World Cup.
Since 2018, this Norwegian athlete is at the top of the world biathlon. After three medals at the Olympics in Pchenchhana, Boe won the World Cup three times in a row. “Big Crystal Globe” did not slip away from Johannes even in the 2019/20 season when the athle missed several races due to the child's birth. Last trophy Boy was awarded in March in Swedish Ostersund. All these achievements make the Norwegian biathlete by the main challenger on the gold medals of Beijing.
Jumping from a springboard. Sarah Takanasi, Japan
Sarah Takanasi is a significant figure in winter sports in Japan. She became the youngest winner of the overall office of the World Cup in jumping from a springboard and won four championship titles (in 2013, 2014th, 2016th and 2017).
The last few years have been issued for Japanese jumpers from a springboard, but difficulties only helped to achieve new heights. According to the athlete, she needed to change the way of thinking, to become more flexible and faster to react to new circumstances. Season 2020/21 became a reflection of this turning point in her career, she won 60 victories at the World Cup stages and thanks to this hit the Guinness Book of Records.
Curling. Sweden
Women's team Sweden – the current Olympic champion in Kerling, and the men's silver medalist. Both teams are the absolute leaders of the world ranking. The latest speeches at the World Championships and the fact that Sweden always occupies good places in international tournaments, make this country to the main challenger for Gold Olympiad-2022 in Beijing.
In April, the men's team of Sweden in Calgary for the third time in a row became the world champion, beating the team of Scotland in the final with a score of 10: 5. Sweden – the second after Canadians the national team, which was able to win the world championship three times in a row. Captain Shvedov Niklas Edin is the only skip who won five world championships.
PLOT
Women's Swedish team, even if he did not win at the World Cup since 2011, will try to win the second Olympic Gold in a row. Recently, Swedets have won the Olympic license by defeating the world championship in Calgary, the German team with a score of 6: 1. In this tournament, the Sweden team ranked fourth, losing the US bronze match with a score of 5: 9.