Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 - days 1-4

Hello all!

Well, the Winter Olympics are here, shrouded in political controversy and, once again for the Olympics, taking place under the cloud of Covid.

But Tiff and I are hoping to cheer things up a bit by stitching a winter-themed project over the course of the 17 days. Updates will be every few days.

I will be working on, and hoping to finish, Let's Be Frozen by Ursula Michael, started during Naughty November 2020. I've divided the remainder of the chart into 17 sections, with the aim of stitching one section each day. I don't know how accurate this will be but I will give it a go. Here's my starting position with 5 hours 40 minutes on the clock:

NB we're one day ahead of the official Olympic days, as we counted the opening ceremony as day one.

Day 1 - 4th February

The opening ceremony was proof that they don't need to be long to be memorable. Did you see the dandelion swaying in the breeze? Such a simple idea but so effective. And combining all of the country's name placards into one giant snowflake as a sense of unity was brilliant. I loved it all!

One thing very noticeable in the commentary as the athletes paraded in, was just how many Winter Olympians are returning for the third, fourth, and even fifth time. It seems that the longevity of competing is much greater in Winter than in Summer sports.

Fun Fact - 19 out of the competing 91 countries are represented by just one athlete, and most of those are competing in Alpine Skiing.

Day 2 - 5th February

Being a Saturday I got the chance to have the TV on in the background nearly all day. I caught some speed skating, curling, skiing, and luge - is luge the nuttiest sport ever or what?

Best moment - the celebrations at the end of the Women's Moguls. Most competitors congratulate fellow competitors with a fist bump, handshake or very obvious uncongratulatory hug, but it seemed all of the finalists bombarded the Australian winner, drowning her in a sea of enjoyment! It stands out as true sportmanship where the 'losers' really were genuinely happy for the winner.

Day 3 - 6th February

The TV wasn't on quite so much today, but I caught some speed skating, ski-jumping, ice dancing and slopestyle snowboarding. I thoroughly enjoyed the slopestyle (so much better than its skateboarding counterpart) but the camera angles just don't show how fast and how high these athletes go. It's gymnastic madness on snow and skis!

Best moment - the ice skating of the Russian Kamila Valieva. She is dream to watch - dainty, beautifully performed and almost perfect - and she's only 15 - 15! Too young to take part in the World Championships yet here she is seemingly taking the Olympics in her stride. What a star!

Day 4 - 7th February

Back to work today, but that didn't stop me catching up with a lot of action in the evening and well into the night! Skiing, snowboarding, ice skating and big air were on my watching menu.

Best moment - the Men's Snowboarding Slopestlye. The tricks performed seemed to go on forever, with multiple twists and turns each time they left the snow. Unfortunately, the winner performed an illegal move which the judges did not pick up on and to which he did not own up, so his medal is a bit controversial. But, that aside, these guys were awesome!

And here's my progress on Let's Be Frozen after the first four days. So far I'm keeping on track with my schedule:

My next Olympic progress update will be on the 12th.

Take care,

Rachel x