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The Games will run from February 4–20.

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Positive Drug Test Won't Stop Russian Figure Skater Competing
February 14, 2022
Kamila Valieva is free to skate still at the Games, despite a positive drug test. The Russian skater was apparently taking the drug trimetazidine (TMZ), which is used to treat the heart condition angina (chest pain resulting from too little blood flowing to the heart) at the time of the Russian national championships, in December 2021. She tested positive for the drug at the time, but the results of that test were only recently released. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that Valieva, who is 15, is a "protected person" and perhaps did not fully understand the kinds of medical treatments that she was being given. The ruling allows her to continue to compete and offers no judgment on whether she broke the rules. Further, the Court said, it wasn't the fault of Valieva that the delay between her taking the test and her finding out the results was not her fault.

Truncated Olympic Torch Relay Begins in Beijing
February 2, 2022
The Olympic Torch Relay has begun, as the Winter Games are to start in Beijing. Cut to three days because of concerns over the coronavirus, the relay began at Olympic Foreign Park, in Beijing, with speedskater Luo Zhihuan carrying the Torch, after it was lit ny Vice Premier Han Zheng in a cauldron shaped like the ritual container zun. Zhihaun, now 81, was China's first winter sports world champion, winning gold at the 1963 World Speed Skating Championship. The Relay course calls for torchbearers to carry the Torch through downtown Beijing and then into the other two Olympic zones, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. The final leg of the Relay will transport the Torch to the Bird's Nest, the venue for the Opening Ceremonies, which take place on Friday.

Lone Skier to Represent India at Beijing Olympics
February 2, 2022
India's lone competitor at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be Arif Khan, competing in the slalom. The 31-year-old from India-controlled Kashmir learned how to ski when he was 4, working at Gulmarg, a government-run ski resort at which his father runs a ski shop. The lack of an official winter sports federation has meant that Kahn has had to pay his own to international competitions. That includes the Olympics, for which he employed crowd-funding. Khan qualified for the Beijing Olympics in November 2021, at a qualifying event at Sku Dubai, an indoor ski arena inside a shopping mall in the United Arab Emirates. In four runs there, he finished 9th, 10th, and 11th (twice). It was enough for him to make the Olympics.

7 New Events to Debut at 2022 Winter Olympics
January 20, 2022
The 2022 Winter Olympics will open on February 4 in Beijing. On offer will be a record 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports. Seven events will feature for the first time. Four of the seven new events combine men's and women's races: Mixed Team Ski Jumping, Mixed Team Short Track Speed Skating Relay, Mixed Snowboard Cross, and Mixed Team Aerial Skiing. Big Air Skiing will challenge competitors to complete flips, rotations, and other moves after launching off a 60-foot ramp. This event will be men's-only and women's-only. One event that will feature only women is the Monobob, a one-woman bobsled competition. The sole bobsledder will have to push off, steer, and pilot the bobsled down the track. All competitors must use the same model of sled.