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Industrial decor.
Skiers and snowboarders swirling through the air in an improbable setting dominated by imposing factory chimneys, between cooling towers and blast furnaces: the Shougang site, the scene of big air events with its giant springboard installed in the heart of a former steelworks undergoing conversion in the west of the Chinese capital, made an impression.
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100% artificial snow.
Long white ribbons meander through the massif of stones and dry trees of Yanqing, site of the alpine skiing events but virgin of natural snow, like the mountains of Zhangjiakou, artificially snow-covered for the Nordic skiing and freestyle events.
For the first time, the Beijing Games, held in a region with a semi-arid climate, rested 100% on unnatural snow.
Even if the landscape was adorned with white last Sunday, with several centimeters falling as far as Beijing.
Satellite photo of the alpine ski slopes of the Yanqing 2022 Olympics on February 3, 2022 - Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies/AFP/Archives
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Seeking fervor desperately.
Unlike the Tokyo Games held behind closed doors last summer, those in Beijing welcomed a few hundred spectators – only duly invited Chinese residents – in the stands of the various competition sites.
But to the very small committee was added the absence of fervor.
Except for a few thrills, when the local star Eileen Gu won gold in the half-pipe or when the Chinese couple Sui Wenjing and Han Cong were crowned in figure skating.
Empty stands for the arrival of Norwegian Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen in the men's biathlon relay on February 15, 2022 in Zhangjiakou Odd ANDERSEN AFP / Archives
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Masks up.
The draconian anti-Covid measures have even interfered on the ice hockey rink.
In the absence of the results of the daily tests of the first at kick-off, Russian and Canadian hockey players played the match which opposed them … with FFP2 masks under their protective grid.
"There is not enough air, lamented a Russian player. It's not a pleasant feeling."
Canadian Marie-Philip Poulin faces Russian Anna Savonina, both masked, during the pool match of the women's ice hockey tournament of the Olympic Games-2022 on February 7, 2022 in Beijing ANTHONY WALLACE AFP
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Gu, rather three times than one.
At 18, already a local star and advertising icon, Eileen Gu was more than up to the occasion.
The Californian teenager, American father and Chinese mother, collected three medals in as many freestyle skiing events: two gold, in big air and halfpipe, and one silver, in slopestyle.
And his communication, like his river press conferences, is as well oiled as his acrobatic "runs".
Chinese Eileen Gu waits for her score in the slopestyle ski event of the 2022 Olympics on February 15, 2022 in Zhangjiakou Marco BERTORELLO AFP / Archives
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Valieva, the collapse.
His still childish face was expected on the highest step of the Olympic podium, at only 15 years old.
It was finally that of the soap opera of the fortnight (and beyond), after the announcement in full JO-2022 of a positive doping control at the end of December, the authorization received at the last minute from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ) to skate individually, first place after the short program but only fourth after the free, and her heartbreaking sobs not comforted by her coach Eteri Tutberidze.
“I suffered a lot for her,” sympathized the new Olympic champion and training partner of Valieva, Anna Shcherbakova.
Russian Kamila Valieva after her free program for the 2022 Olympics on February 17, 2022 in Beijing Manan VATSYAYANA, - AFP/Archives
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The biathlon in the mile.
Led by Quentin Fillon Maillet, the French biathlon participated for half in the tricolor harvest.
Of the fourteen medals won, seven, including three gold, come from biathletes.
"QFM" is involved in five, two gold (individual and pursuit) and three silver (sprint, men's relay and mixed relay).
Justine Braisaz-Bouchet added mass start gold and Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet individual money.
Never had the blue-white-red biathlon been so successful, even at the time of Martin Fourcade.
Frenchman Fabien Claude in training before the start of the 2022 Olympics biathlon events on February 2, 2022 in Zhangjiakou Tobias SCHWARZ AFP
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Hanyu, quadruple Axel obsession.
In Beijing, Yuzuru Hanyu had the opportunity to become the first skater in almost a century to win three consecutive Olympic titles.
But the Japanese superstar had only one obsession: to perform a quadruple Axel, the most complex quadruple rotation, yet to be achieved in competition and which actually requires four and a half turns in the air.
His rotation was incomplete and he fell, but "I had the feeling that I was really not far from it", estimated "Yuzu", finally fourth.
His iconic status has not been affected, as evidenced by the legion of fans massed along the barriers around the rink just to catch a glimpse of him on gala day.
The Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu after a fall during the free program of the Olympic Games-2022 on February 10, 2022 in Beijing SEBASTIEN BOZON AFP / Archives
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At the heart of the action.
Funny landing for Finland's Jon Sallinen in qualifying for the half-pipe.
The skier hit a cameraman who had leaned over to film his figure as he was flying over the "half-pipe".
"I may have been cushioned a bit by the cameraman, hope he's okay, because I landed right on top of him," he said.
With a sore collarbone, however, he finished qualifying in last place.
Finland's Jon Sallinen hits a cameraman during the 2022 Olympics half-pipe ski event on February 17 in Zhangjiakou Ben STANSALL AFP
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Shortage of Bing Dwen Dwen.
The plush mascot of the 2022 Olympics, a smiling panda dressed in an ice suit, tears away in the Olympic bubble as well as outside.
In Zhangjiakou, early adopters got their hands on one of the rare copies on sale in recent days.
"With the opening of the Olympics, I obviously expected people to buy it but not that it would become so popular overnight. It has become a phenomenon", is surprised its creator Cao Xue.
© 2022 AFP