McCormick junior Jesse Ji first started paying attention to the Winter Olympics in 2018 because of his love for figure skating. 

“It’s a very musical and artistic sport,” Ji said. “As someone who’s been playing violin for a long time, I like that a lot of the programs that figure skaters skate to was some of the music that I play and enjoy.”

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games began Feb. 2, allowing Ji to watch some of his favorite athletes compete. Ji said he has spent the Games rooting for Japan but also enjoys watching U.S. skater Alysa Liu. 

While he watches skating year-round, Ji said the Olympics is an event everyone enjoys. For some students, like Weinberg junior Greta Lunder, the Olympics are a time to watch sports not typically showcased on a large scale.

“I’m not normally a big fan year-round of any of these sports … I’m mainly a basketball and a football person,” Lunder said. “(The Olympics are) a nice little interval where I can watch sports I wouldn’t necessarily know about or keep up with.”

Both Lunder and Ji said they often have trouble finding people on campus to watch the Games with, as Ji said figure skating, for instance, is a relatively niche sport. However, 15-year-old Russian athlete Kamila Valieva’s recent doping scandal garnered national attention. After testing positive for a drug that increases blood flow to the heart, therefore increasing stamina, Valieva was banned from competing at the Games on Feb. 13. A day later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport allowed her to return for the remainder of the event due to her status as a minor.

Lunder said she thinks the Olympic committee should either bar minors from competing or change the way minors are held accountable. 

“(Valieva’s coach) is infamous for training teenagers … and wearing them out to the point where they’re too injured to continue past age 17,” she said. “It encourages coaches like (Valieva’s) to … get away with possibly giving drugs to one of her athletes and … continue her abuse.” 

Ji said the doping was not Valieva’s fault and that the people around her are to blame. However, he said the consequences are necessary in alignment with the rules of the Games to prevent the perpetuation of an already abusive system.

Students on campus watched other winter sports as well. Weinberg senior Kristína Feiková pays close attention to alpine skiing, a sport she’s done since she was young, along with slalom skiing and downhill skiing. The Slovakia native added her country is well-versed in the biathlon — an event involving both cross country skiing and rifle shooting. 

Petra Vlhova is the only Slovakian to win a gold in the 2022 Winter Games thus far, but her win was a highlight of the Olympics for Feiková.

“She’s all over the media, and she’s the only athlete in Slovakia that won a medal,” she said. 

Since Slovakia has also advanced to the semifinals in Ice Hockey after defeating the U.S. on Wednesday, Feiková said she plans to watch them play Finland Thursday night over Facetime with her boyfriend. 

The U.S. has won 21 medals throughout the Games — eight gold, eight silver and five bronze. The team is set to compete in events such as speed skating, freestyle skiing, figure skating and curling this weekend. 

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Twitter: @swarthout_iris

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