Slopes without snow, first medals… A look back at the first week of the Beijing Olympics

Seven days after the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, France 24 looks back on the key moments of the first week of the competition, marred by numerous ma...

The Beijing Olympics are in full swing on Friday, February 11.

For the past week, winter sports events have followed one another, riddled here and there with various controversies.

• A young Uighur to carry the Olympic torch

Dinigeer Yilamujiang (left) and Zhao Kiawen carry the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, February 4, 2022. © Manan Vatsyana, AFP

While calls to boycott the Olympics had multiplied in the weeks leading up to the competition, with China being accused of carrying out genocide against the Uyghurs, Beijing responded with a most symbolic image.

He appointed Dinigeer Yilmajiang, a young athlete from this ethnic group and qualified for cross-country skiing, to carry the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony.

• Ski slopes… without snow

A snow cannon makes it possible to reinforce the snow cover of "The Rock", the alpine ski slope specially designed for the Olympic Games, on February 5, 2022. © Fabrice Coffrini, AFP

The snow cannons are working at full speed.

Located 90 km northwest of Beijing, "The Rock", the alpine ski slope specially designed for the Olympic Games, appears as a strip of snow in the middle of a dry and rocky landscape.

To ensure that the competition runs smoothly, the organizers of the Olympic Games will have deployed 365 snow cannons across their entire site.

What provoke the ire of associations for the defense of the environment.

• Big air in the middle of an industrial landscape

Swede Henrik Harlaut during the freestyle ski final on February 9, 2022, during the Big Air event.

Skiers in the middle of disused reactors.

It was not just the decor of "The Rock" that surprised the spectators of the Olympics.

The place chosen to host the Big Air events, a new discipline of the Olympic Games, also caused a lot of reaction.

For good reason, the huge ski jump was set up in the middle of a former steelworks site, closed in 2008 and since transformed into a vast leisure park.

Here, Swede Henrik Harlaut in the final on February 9, where he won the bronze medal.

• Disqualified for “too baggy” outfits

Japan's Sara Takanashi reacts after her jump in the mixed team ski jumping event on February 7, 2022. © Odd Andersen, AFP

A new test of the Olympic Games marked by a controversy.

Tuesday, February 7, five participants in the mixed team ski jumping competition were disqualified.

In question: combinations deemed too loose, supposed to give them an advantage when they are in the air.

Ultra-favorite Germany – deprived of its star athlete – lost to Slovenia.

• Kamila Valieva, the Russian skating prodigy, at the heart of a doping scandal

The young Russian prodigy, Kamila Valieva, made history on February 7, 2022, by becoming the first skater in history to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics.

She has since been embroiled in a massive doping scandal.

At 15, Kamila Valieva, made history on Monday, February 7, by becoming the first skater in history to perform a quadruple jump at the Olympics, during the team competition won by the Russians.

The next day, however, the medal ceremony for the event was postponed.

For good reason, the skater tested positive for a doping product during a test carried out last December.

• Quentin Fillon Maillet takes gold in biathlon

Quentin Fillon Maillet celebrates his gold medal in the individual biathlon event, February 9, 2022. © Odd Andersen, AFP

At the end of this first week of the Beijing Games, it is the only gold medal on the clock for France.

Quentin Fillon Maillet, 29, won the Olympic title on Tuesday February 8 in the individual biathlon event thanks to a superb 18/20 in shooting and formidable efficiency on his skis.

Four years after the raid of his compatriot Martin Fourcade at the PyeongChang Olympics (three titles including two solo), French biathlon seems to have found the next generation.

• Eileen Gu, the great American hope of medalist China

Eileen Gu during the freestyle skiing event, February 7, 2022. © Manan Vatsyana, AFP

She is now a star in China.

Born in the United States of a Chinese mother and an American father, Eileen Gü had decided in 2019 to compete under the colors of Beijing.

Tuesday, February 8, she offered the host country of the Olympic Games a gold medal in freestyle skiing.

Another American, born in California to two Chinese parents and who opted for Chinese nationality, Zhu Yi has been in the spotlight.

But the skater had the misfortune to fall.

A failure that earned him a wave of insults on Chinese social networks.

Beijing has been resorting for a few years, in homeopathic doses, to naturalizations of foreign athletes, often of Chinese origin, in order to strengthen itself in certain sports where it is struggling.

In addition to Eileen Gü, several foreigners have also come to strengthen the ranks of the national ice hockey teams.

• American Nathan Chen crowned in figure skating

American Nathan Chen during the free figure skating event, February 10, 2022. © Sébastien Bozon, AFP

Figure skating has a new king: Nathan Chen who, at 22, added the Olympic title to his three world crowns on Thursday 10 February.

He thus put an end to the reign of his great rival, the Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu, outgoing double Olympic champion, who hoped to achieve an extremely rare hat-trick and who finished at the foot of the podium (4th).

• Chain disappointments for Alexis Pinturault

Alexis Pinturault went to hide his dismay for long minutes on the edge of the track after his failure in the alpine combined event on February 10, 2022. © Fabrice Coffrini, AFP

Olympic gold is decidedly refused to Alexis Pinturault.

After having abandoned in slalom, he will not have managed to climb on the podium of the alpine combined, Thursday, February 10, from which he started however big favorite.

Eleventh after the descent and already showing 1 sec 92/100e on the best time, "Pintu", 30, had no choice but to take all the risks between the poles and he paid a high price.

Halfway through, he got caught by a bump and straddled the next gate.

The leader of the French team went to hide his dismay for long minutes on the edge of the track, aware of having missed a major chance to enter the closed circle of Olympic champions.

• Shaun White's Farewell

Snowboarding legend Shaun White competed in the last half pipe contest of his career on February 11, 2022. © Ben Stansall, AFP

One last lap – at 1,440 degrees – and then off.

Snowboarding legend Shaun White took part in the last half pipe competition of his career on Friday February 11, unfortunately without reaching the podium.

"Three out of five is not bad," commented the three-time American Olympic champion in five appearances, his green eyes misty and his throat choking with sobs.

"I wanted more, obviously," he concluded.

With AFP

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