The Winter Olympics Have Started; What You Need to Know
Competition starts today; curling, ice hockey, figure skating, and freestyle skating all have events occurring ahead of Friday's official starting event, the Opening Ceremony. Overall, there will be 109 medal events across 15 disciplines of seven sports, with ~2,900 athletes competing from ~90 nations across 19 days. Check out some of my leading storylines and questions for each sport discipline.
What to watch before the Opening Ceremony:
Figure skating's team competition (sigh) gets underway with most of its first round action, as probably the highlight of pre-ceremony competition. Expect Team (Russia), Canada, and the United States to lead the way - like they did at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018.
Opening Ceremony
Friday, February 4 @ 8pm China ST / 4am PST / 7am EST
Watch live on NBC; coverage starts at 3:30am PST.
Primetime replay coverage starts at 5pm PST/ 8pm EST.
Expect the ceremony to include the traditional theatrical presentation of the host city and nation, the Parade of Nations, and opening remarks from designated representatives, including International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. The final highlight will be the conclusion of the torch relay, and the lighting of the torch - who will be the last torchbearer is always a closely-guarded secret.