Good Riddance to the Beijing Olympics – WSJ

But not in a police state. As American competitors were heading to China, the FBI warned them to leave their iPhones at home and instead bring burner phones, as a way to frustrate the Chinese surveillance state. NBC, which paid handsomely for the TV and digital rights to the Olympics, declined to send announcers to Beijing, citing Covid, and viewership has been historically low. Some nights have pulled half the audience of four years ago.

Then there was the grim spectacle Thursday at the figure skating finals, which culminated in teenage athletes emotionally breaking down on global TV. I hate this sport! said 17-year-old Alexandra Trusova, the Russian who won silver. I will never go out on the ice again in my life! Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian phenom who fell on the ice and off the podium, was allowed to compete even after news that she tested positive in December for trimetazidine, a drug that boosts blood flow to the heart.

The International Skating Union could raise the minimum age for top athletes to 17. I was very, very disturbed yesterday when I watched the competition on TV, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said Friday. That pressure is beyond my imagination, and in particular for a girl of 15 years, to see her struggling on the ice.

via www.wsj.com

Did the CCP know the Olympics would be so bad, or are they flouting that they can be so bad and no one be allowed to say that in country? I feel sorry for the athletes, or some of them, anyway. A lot of them are probably pretty unpleasant people, what you get if you spend your youth only ice skating, or staring at the bottom of a pool.