By — Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/watch-what-to-expect-from-the-beijing-olympics Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: What to expect from the Beijing Olympics Nation Feb 4, 2022 6:01 PM EDT As the Winter Games convene in Beijing, there are no audiences, tourists or locals coming to support the greatest skiers, curlers, snowboarders and ice sport champions from around the world. Two years into a pandemic that has killed millions, athletes, staffers, reporters and Olympic organizers are facing unprecedented public health hurdles in pulling off a global event, while also dealing with surveillance and human rights concerns about the host country. READ MORE: A member of the Jamaican Olympic bobsled team on what it’s like to carry on a legacy The omicron variant has disrupted what for many athletes may be the biggest moment in their professional lives, said Rachel Bachman, a senior sports reporter for the Wall Street Journal. “Every day of the Olympics, every hour at the Olympics is the most important hour in someone’s life. And that’s a pretty compelling thing to experience on an everyday basis,” she said. Wall Street Journal Reporter Rachel Bachman shared what she’s been watching in the runup to the Olympics, as well as what she expects from the Games, in a conversation with The PBS NewsHour’s Nicole Ellis. Watch the conversation in the player above. Even before they reached Beijing, COVID changed the Olympic trajectory for many athletes. “Some cases knocked athletes out of the games entirely. And in other cases, athletes had to take repeated tests to illustrate that they were COVID free and show that evidence to Chinese organizers in order to be allowed in the country.” Most athletes who hoped to be at these Olympics have arrived safely, but the stress of whether they can stay is ongoing, Bachman said. As part of China’s “Zero Covid” approach, everyone participating in the Games must stay in a “closed loop” – once you’ve arrived and passed initial testing, there’s no leaving or interacting with people outside of it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by PBS NewsHour (@newshour) Surveillance by the Chinese government also poses privacy concerns for everyone involved in the games. “Team USA, for instance, has recommended to its athletes to not bring their cell phones, so they’ve recommended using disposable or burner phones,” Bachman said. Media organizations are taking similar precautions in a dramatic shift from traditional press corps coverage. As a veteran Olympics reporter, Bachman said she had “never been to an Olympics where, you know, Olympic governing bodies recommended against using personal technology in the host country.” Despite the hurdles , organizers, athletes, reporters and staffers are pushing ahead to focus on their ultimate priority: competition. “The nice thing about the Olympics is even as controversial as these particular games are, at a certain point, they really are about the athletes,” Bachman said. MORE: As the 2022 Winter Olympics begin, Beijing becomes ‘a fortress against COVID’ We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis is PBS NewsHour's digital anchor where she hosts pre- and post-shows and breaking news live streams on digital platforms and serves as a correspondent for the nightly broadcast. Ellis joined the NewsHour from The Washington Post, where she was an Emmy nominated on-air reporter and anchor covering social issues and breaking news. In this role, she hosted, produced, and directed original documentaries and breaking news videos for The Post’s website, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Facebook and Twitch, earning a National Outstanding Breaking News Emmy Nomination for her coverage of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Ellis created and hosted The Post’s first original documentary series, “Should I freeze my eggs?,” in which she explores her own fertility and received the 2019 Digiday Publishers Award. She also created and hosted the Webby Award-winning news literacy series “The New Normal,” the most viewed video series in the history of The Washington Post’s women’s vertical, The Lily. She is the author of “We Go High,” a non-fiction self-help-by-proxy book on overcoming adversity publishing in 2022, and host of Critical Conversations on BookClub, an author-led book club platform. Prior to that, Ellis was a part of the production team for the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series, CNN Heroes. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Human Rights from Columbia University, as well as a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia Journalism School.
As the Winter Games convene in Beijing, there are no audiences, tourists or locals coming to support the greatest skiers, curlers, snowboarders and ice sport champions from around the world. Two years into a pandemic that has killed millions, athletes, staffers, reporters and Olympic organizers are facing unprecedented public health hurdles in pulling off a global event, while also dealing with surveillance and human rights concerns about the host country. READ MORE: A member of the Jamaican Olympic bobsled team on what it’s like to carry on a legacy The omicron variant has disrupted what for many athletes may be the biggest moment in their professional lives, said Rachel Bachman, a senior sports reporter for the Wall Street Journal. “Every day of the Olympics, every hour at the Olympics is the most important hour in someone’s life. And that’s a pretty compelling thing to experience on an everyday basis,” she said. Wall Street Journal Reporter Rachel Bachman shared what she’s been watching in the runup to the Olympics, as well as what she expects from the Games, in a conversation with The PBS NewsHour’s Nicole Ellis. Watch the conversation in the player above. Even before they reached Beijing, COVID changed the Olympic trajectory for many athletes. “Some cases knocked athletes out of the games entirely. And in other cases, athletes had to take repeated tests to illustrate that they were COVID free and show that evidence to Chinese organizers in order to be allowed in the country.” Most athletes who hoped to be at these Olympics have arrived safely, but the stress of whether they can stay is ongoing, Bachman said. As part of China’s “Zero Covid” approach, everyone participating in the Games must stay in a “closed loop” – once you’ve arrived and passed initial testing, there’s no leaving or interacting with people outside of it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by PBS NewsHour (@newshour) Surveillance by the Chinese government also poses privacy concerns for everyone involved in the games. “Team USA, for instance, has recommended to its athletes to not bring their cell phones, so they’ve recommended using disposable or burner phones,” Bachman said. Media organizations are taking similar precautions in a dramatic shift from traditional press corps coverage. As a veteran Olympics reporter, Bachman said she had “never been to an Olympics where, you know, Olympic governing bodies recommended against using personal technology in the host country.” Despite the hurdles , organizers, athletes, reporters and staffers are pushing ahead to focus on their ultimate priority: competition. “The nice thing about the Olympics is even as controversial as these particular games are, at a certain point, they really are about the athletes,” Bachman said. MORE: As the 2022 Winter Olympics begin, Beijing becomes ‘a fortress against COVID’ We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now