Concerns and controversies at the 2022 Winter Olympics

Starting on 4 February 2022, the 2022 Winter Olympics, is being hosted by in China in their capital city of Beijing, and it has been the subject of various concerns and controversies about their cost, environmental impact, censorship, espionage, COVID-19, sportswashing, and human rights issues.

There have been diplomatic boycotts of the Olympics largely due to the human rights situation in China, and the Uyghur genocide in particular. China has also faced boycott for allegedly politicising the Olympics.

Criticism of host selection

American sportscaster Bob Costas criticized the IOC's decision to award the games to China saying "The IOC deserves all of the disdain and disgust that comes their way for going back to China yet again" referencing China's human rights record.

Organizing concerns and controversies

Cost and climate

Several cities withdrew their applications during the bidding process, citing the high costs or the lack of local support to host the 2022 games, leaving Almaty in Kazakhstan and Beijing as the only candidate cities by 1 October 2014.

The decision to bid for the Olympics was controversial in China (and outside), because Beijing itself, and especially some of the proposed outdoor venues, would not have reliable snowfall in winter for snow sports. Concerns have been raised that snow may need to be transported to the venues at great cost and with uncertain environmental consequences.

Promotional song

Some commentators alleged that one of the early promotional songs for the 2022 Winter Olympics, "The Snow and Ice Dance", sung by Sun Nan and Tan Jing, had suspicious similarities with "Let It Go", one of the songs from the 2013 Disney film, Frozen. A Chinese media outlet cited technical analysis of the two songs: both songs employ a piano as the major instrument, have similar prelude chords and an eight-beat introduction, and they run at almost exactly the same tempo.

Diplomatic boycotts

The following countries have confirmed a diplomatic boycott of the games:

• Australia
• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• India
• Kosovo
• Lithuania
• Taiwan
• United Kingdom
• United States

Countries that have announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics

Background

Protests against Chinese Winter Olympics held in New Delhi

Further information: 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests and Uyghur genocide

After China had won the bid to host the 2022 Olympics, many Tibetan protesters had criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for allowing China to host the games again due to its policies against Tibetans. In the aftermath of the 2019 leak of the Xinjiang papers, the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, China's hostage diplomacy and the Uyghur genocide, calls were made for a boycott of the 2022 Games. In November 2021 the disappearance of former Olympian Peng Shuai after she made allegations of sexual assault against Zhang Gaoli, former Vice Premier of China and a high ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member, has put pressure on the International Olympic Committee.

Some human rights organizations have called for a diplomatic boycott that would mean countries not sending their heads of state or high-ranking officials to the Olympics but still sending athletes. In a 30 July 2020 letter, the World Uyghur Congress urged the IOC to reconsider holding the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing because of the Uyghur genocide. The World Uyghur Congress does not support a full boycott; instead, they want athletes to use the games as a chance to raise awareness about the Uyghur genocide, similar to the way that athletes have raised the profile of the Black Lives Matter movement. The IOC met with activists in late 2020 about their request to move the Olympics. In March 2021, the IOC president Thomas Bach opposed a boycott, which would also damage the IOC image and finances, and said that the IOC must stay out of politics. On 14 October 2021, the executive vice-president of the IOC, John Coates, said that the IOC would not challenge the Chinese government over the issue of the Uyghurs, stating that it was "not within the IOC's remit".

On 23 June 2021 (Olympic Day), multiple Tibetan, Uyghur, Hongkonger, Chinese, Taiwanese and Southern Mongolian representatives staged protests in 50 cities worldwide, calling for a mass boycott.

On 7 September 2021, human rights groups called on Olympics broadcasters, including NBC, to cancel the broadcasting plans for 2022 Olympics due to China's human rights issue.

In January 2022, it was reported that the United States is considering legislation to strip the IOC of its federal tax-exempt status in response to the IOC's "refusal to challenge China on human rights abuses".

More than 200 human rights organizations have voiced support for a boycott of the games. Groups protesting the games have called them the "Genocide Games."

United States

Further information: China–United States relations

In October 2018, Senator Marco Rubio, on behalf of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, asked that China be deprived of the hosting rights for the 2022 Olympics due to the "dire human rights situation" there. In September 2020, United States Senator Rick Scott spoke with the IOC Vice President about reconsidering the IOC's decision to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in China. On 25 February 2021, U.S. Representative John Katko stated that China is "a country that's engaged in genocide" and called upon the United States to boycott participation in the 2022 Winter Olympics. In March 2021, Senator Mitt Romney called for an "economic and diplomatic boycott" of the 2022 Winter Olympics, in which U.S. athletes would still participate, but no American spectators or dignitaries would attend. In May 2021, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called for a diplomatic boycott and said heads of state should not "honor China" by attending the Olympic Games. In July 2021, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China called on the IOC to relocate or postpone the games.

In April 2021, it was reported that the Biden administration was "not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners."

In a survey taken in August 2021, 49 percent of Americans believe that China's human rights record should prevent it from hosting the winter Olympics in 2022 and 33 percent are not sure.

On 18 November 2021, President Joe Biden said the U.S. is "considering" a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Some, like US senator Tom Cotton, called for a full boycott of the games, which would bar U.S. athletes from competing and bar U.S. companies from sponsoring the games. Due to a change in the last version of the Olympic Charter, a full boycott by the United States, like the one at the 1980 Summer Olympics, could result in the most severe punishment, which is the suspension by the National Olympic Committee for 2 years of the Olympic Games, a similar situation to what happened with North Korea in the 2020 games.

On 6 December 2021, White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, announced that the Biden administration would initiate a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Paralympics. The diplomatic boycott would bar all US government officials from attending the games in an official capacity. The White House cited China's mistreatment of the Uyghur people as the reason for the boycott. The White House said it stopped short of a full boycott, because "it would not be fair to punish athletes who have trained for years".

On 27 December 2021, the Chinese foreign ministry said it has received visa applications for 18 US officials to attend the games. The US said that the visa applications were consistent with its diplomatic boycott as the applicants would only be providing "consular and diplomatic security services" to its athletes.

Australia

Further information: Australia–China relations

China's alleged use of coercive diplomacy against Australia has led to increased calls within Australia to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics. In November 2020, Australian Senators Jacqui Lambie and Rex Patrick officially proposed a boycott, but their proposal was voted down. Australia has decided that no Australian based politician or officials will be attending the games, and Canberra has also refused to sign the Olympic Truce for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

On 7 December 2021, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that Australia would join with the United States in the diplomatic boycott of the 2022 games. He stated that it was "human rights abuses," referencing the ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region, as well as "many other issues that Australia has consistently raised". He went on to state that it was "no surprise" that Canberra would do this following consistent deterioration of relations between Canberra and Beijing. Morrison also stated that the decision was "in Australia's national interest," and that it is the "right thing to do."

India

Further information: China–India relations and 2020–2022 China–India skirmishes

After it was revealed that People's Liberation Army regimental commander Qi Fabao, who led the Chinese troops during skirmishes against Indian troops during the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, would be one of the torchbearers during the opening ceremony of the games, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated: "It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics". Bagchi also stated that the chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of India in Beijing will not attend the opening or closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics. The CEO of Prasar Bharati, India's public broadcaster, announced that they will not air the 2022 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremony.

Qi Fabao had been captured in June 2020 by Indian forces when he tried to mount an attack on Indian forces in the Galwan Valley, according to an investigative report by the Australian newspaper The Klaxon. According to the report, 38 Chinese troops drowned in the early stages of the 15–16 June face-off between Indian and Chinese forces while attempting to cross the Galwan River at Line of Actual Control in the dark. The Chinese government accepted four casualties.

Calls for boycotts by other countries

In a non-binding motion in February 2021, the Canadian House of Commons called for the IOC to move the Olympics to a new location. In a nationwide survey conducted in March 2021, 54% of Canadians said the country should boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, while 24% believed it should not and 21% were not sure.

In July 2021, the European Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom voted in favor of a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

On 19 November 2021, 17 members of the Lithuanian national parliament Seimas released an official letter encouraging Lithuania to withdraw from the 2022 Olympics due human rights violations in China. Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, president of National Olympic Committee of Lithuania, released a statement that Olympic games should be politically neutral and confirmed that committee has no plans to boycott the games. Lithuania's president, Gitanas Nauseda, released a statement confirming the Lithuanian diplomatic boycott on 3 December 2021. This was due to concerns of human rights abuses in China.

On 8 December 2021, the United Kingdom and Canada joined the United States and Australia, whom both announced diplomatic boycotts of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

In December 2021, the government of Latvia announced that it will be not send diplomats to the games.

In January 2022, the governments of Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands separately announced that they will not send diplomats to the games.

Relationship to other non-attending countries

The following countries have confirmed they will not send official representatives to the Winter Olympics but not as part of the diplomatic boycott campaign.

• Austria
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Germany
• Japan
• Latvia
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Slovenia
• Sweden
• Switzerland

Chinese Government response

In February 2021, the Chinese Communist Party-owned tabloid Global Times warned that China could "seriously sanction any country that follows a boycott." In March 2021, Chinese spokesperson Guo Weimin stated that any attempt to boycott the Olympics would be doomed to fail. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also told the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that they should attend the games to "enhance exchanges on winter sport," and to "foster new highlights" in bilateral cooperation.

On 29 November 2021, Chinese media reported that China reportedly does not plan to invite Western politicians who threaten a diplomatic boycott to the Beijing Winter Olympics.

IOC response

The IOC has stated that it remains neutral in all global political issues and that the award of hosting the games does not mean that the IOC agrees with the political structure, social circumstances, or human rights standards in the country they are held in. "We've repeatedly said it: the IOC isn't responsible for the government. It only gives the rights and opportunity for the staging of the Olympic Games. That doesn't mean we agree with all the politics, all the social or human rights issues in the country. And it doesn't mean we approve of all the human rights violations of a person or people," the committee's response to AFP read. This position has generated criticism, with Jules Boykoff accusing the IOC of hypocrisy by saying that it ignores its charter that promotes equality and anti-discrimination when it is convenient to do so and that the IOC has shown an "unfortunate propensity for turning away from human rights atrocities to make sure that the games go on."

On 8 September 2021, after the IOC suspended the North Korean NOC for not being present at the 2020 Summer Olympics, there was speculation about whether the IOC was also intending to send a message to nations considering a boycott of the games that they could be banned from participation in future Olympic Games if they chose to boycott this edition. On 14 October 2021, the executive vice-president of the IOC, Australian John Coates, said that the IOC would not challenge the Chinese government over the issue of the Uyghurs, stating that it was "not within the IOC's remit".

However, during the opening ceremony, IOC president, Thomas Bach had called for the end of various types of discrimination during his speech indirectly referring to the human rights abuses in China.

Athletes and team officials complaints

Athletes participating have said, the games "are not living up to the hype — especially considering how China promised the world a “streamlined, safe and most splendid Games.” Team officials from delegations including Belgium, Germany and the Russian Olympic Committee have all brought up issues facing their athletes in quarantine hotels, among them no internet, low-quality food, insufficient facilities and no training equipment.

Quarantine facilities

Polish short track speed skater Natalia Maliszewska posted on Twitter, "I don’t believe in anything anymore. In no tests. No games. It’s a big joke for me" after a series of mistakes by Chinese officials conducting COVID-19 tests on her. Meanwhile, Finnish men's ice hockey team's coach Jukka Jalonen accused China of not respecting the human rights of athlete Marko Anttila, who had not received food and was under a lot of stress while in quarantine.

On February 2, Belgian skeleton athlete Kim Meylemans posted on social media and was in tears about the conditions she faced while in quarantine. Meylemans was supposed to be transported to the village after her time in quarantine was over, but was transported to a different quarantine facility instead. After the video was posted, Belgian Olympic team officials and the International Olympic Committee had to intervene, and Meylemans was moved to the Athletes Village in Yanqing. Moreover, Dirk Schimmelpfennig, Germany's chef de mission called the hotel accommodations provided for Olympic gold medalist in Nordic Combined Eric Frenzel as “unreasonable".

Food

The food being served at the games was also criticized. During the men's downhill event in alpine skiing, German coach Christian Schweiger said the following, “the catering is extremely questionable. I would have expected that the Olympic Committee is capable of providing hot meals, there are crisps, some nuts and chocolate and nothing else. This shows a lack of focus on high-performance sport”. Also, Russian Olympic Committee biathlete Valeria Vasnetsova posted on social media that she was bring served the same food for all three meals and posted "My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes". Vasnetsova said she was only able to eat the pasta served as the rest of the food was inedible. The United States delegation brought extra food, such as bags of pasta, anticipating issues with the food at the games. Also, a manager from a restaurant in the 'bubble' for the games admitted the food served there was 'disgusting' and only low quality packaged food items were available at the Main Media Centre. The International Olympic Committee would release a statement acknowledging the issues raised by athletes, "particularly with regard to food temperature, variety and portion size”.

Weather conditions

Other complaints included the weather conditions at the games, with athletes raising complaints about competing in unsafe weather conditions. The Swedish team requested the races be moved to earlier in the day to protect athletes from the cold weather. This was done after athlete Frida Karlsson nearly fainted at the conclusion of the women's skiathlon cross-country race. Some athletes resorted to putting tape on their faces and noses to protect them from the bitter cold.

Team Russia

Further information: Doping in Russia

On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from all international sport for a period of four years, after the Russian government was found to have tampered with lab data that it provided to WADA in January 2019 as a condition of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency being reinstated. As a result of the ban, WADA will allow individually cleared Russian athletes to take part in the 2022 Winter Olympics under a neutral banner, as instigated at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The title of the neutral banner has yet to be determined; WADA Compliance Review Committee head Jonathan Taylor stated that the IOC would not be able to use "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) as it did in 2018, emphasizing that neutral athletes cannot be portrayed as representing a specific country.

Russia later filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the WADA decision. The Court of Arbitration for Sport, on review of Russia's appeal of its case from WADA, ruled on 17 December 2020, to reduce the penalty that WADA had placed. Instead of banning Russia from sporting events, the ruling allowed Russia to participate at the Olympics and other international events, but for a period of two years, the team cannot use the Russian name, flag, or anthem and must present themselves as "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team". The ruling does allow for team uniforms to display "Russia" on the uniform as well as the use of the Russian flag colors within the uniform's design, although the name should be up to equal predominance as the "Neutral Athlete/Team" designation.

The IOC announced on 19 February 2021 that Russia would compete in both the 2020 Summer Olympics (which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2022 Winter Olympics under the acronym "ROC", after the name of the Russian Olympic Committee. However, the name of the committee itself in full could not be used to refer to the delegation. The ROC team would be represented by the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee. On 22 April 2021, the IOC approved a fragment of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 to be used in place of the Russian national anthem.

Environmental and health issues

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

See also: COVID-19, COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in China, List of athletes not attending the 2022 Winter Olympics due to COVID-19 concerns, and COVID-19 cases at the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 Winter Paralympics

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in changes in qualifying for curling and women's ice hockey due to the cancellation of tournaments in 2020. The World Curling Federation proposed that qualification for curling be based on placement in the 2021 world championships and a dedicated qualification tournament to complete the field (in place of points earned across the 2020 and 2021 world championships). The IIHF based its qualification for the women's tournament upon existing IIHF World Rankings, without holding the 2020 Women's World Championship. The Asian Winter Games was also not held before this Olympics, potentially affecting the qualifications for some athletes.

On 23 December 2021, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced it will not be sending players to the Games, citing health and safety concerns, and a need to use the timeframe of the Olympics to make up the large number of games postponed since December 2021 due to Omicron variant.

Insufficient snowfall

During the bidding process, critics questioned the Beijing bid, citing that the proposed outdoor venue sites do not have reliable snowfall in winter for snow sports. Concerns have been raised that snow may need to be transported to the venues at great cost and with uncertain environmental consequences.

Energy crisis

The 2021 global energy crisis has intensified pressures on China ahead of the Winter Olympics. Al-Jazeera reported that "China’s energy crisis is partially of its own making as President Xi Jinping tries to ensure blue skies at the Winter Olympics in Beijing next February and show the international community he’s serious about de-carbonizing the economy."

Impact on Songshan National Nature Reserve

The environmental impact of hosting the Games near Beijing has been questioned. Some of the proposed venues will be adjacent to the Songshan National Nature Reserve and part of the same mountain system, and the environmental impact on the nature reserve of construction, and artificially covering parts of the mountain with snow, is uncertain. The Government of China has responded to these concerns by expanding the nature reserve by 31% of its original size.

Human rights issues

Sportswashing

Critics say that the 2022 Winter Olympics is being used by the Chinese government for the purpose of sportswashing, a practice by which a country uses sporting events to distract from human rights abuses or other issues.

In January 2022 Amnesty International warned the international community against participating in China's sportswashing efforts. According to Amnesty "China is hoping for sportswashing gold and it's vital that every effort is made to counteract that." Amnesty also criticized the IOC directly.

Athlete safety

Members of the American congress from both major parties have expressed concerns about athlete safety. Retired Olympic cross-country skier Noah Hoffman has also expressed concerns about athlete safety citing China's human rights record and a lack of concern shown by the IOC.

Athlete's freedom of speech

In January 2022 the Beijing Organizing Committee warned that "Any behavior or speech that is against the Olympic spirit, especially against Chinese laws and regulations, are also subject to certain punishment."

Competitors have been warned by Human Rights Watch that speaking out is not tolerated in China and as a result if they speak out about human rights or other issues in China they face significant legal penalties. For their protection the American team has been shielded from question related to human rights.

Uyghur and Tibetan activists have encouraged athletes, sponsors, and other international participants in the games to use the platform to speak out on human rights.

Protests

Demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy, Prague (4.2.2022). Artificial snow, real genocide

In November 2021 activists held a 57-hour vigil outside the White House in Washington D.C.

In January 2022 a protest against China's hosting of the games was held in Washington, D.C. outside the Chinese embassy. Attendees included civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng and New Jersey politician Chris Smith. Smith described the 2022 Olympics as the "Genocide Games."

To protest the games and China's human rights record the artist Badiucao created an NFT collection entitled "Beijing 2022 Olympic" which featured works mixing Olympic imagery with human rights messaging.

A number of athletes have stated that they would boycott the Olympics opening ceremony.

On 4 February, a large protest against the games was held in Istanbul. Protesters included members of Turkey's Uyghur diaspora community. Hundreds of people in several countries protested against China's repression of its Uyghur minority and Tibetans.

Propaganda and information operations issues

Further information: Propaganda in China, Chinese information operations and information warfare, and Wolf warrior diplomacy

Propaganda and information operations

The Chinese government's internet troll networks were mobilized before the Games to support government messaging. This has included campaigns of intimidation against human rights activists abroad. The Spamouflage network transitioned to primarily push Olympic messaging in December 2021.

In the run up to the Olympics, the Chinese government deployed dozens of fake Twitter accounts to push the Government's position in the Peng Shuai scandal and the IOC's involvement.

Censorship

File:Badiucao's Boycott of the Beijing 2022 Olympics.jpg

Thor Halvorssen at the Oslo Freedom Forum, before he presented the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent to satirical cartoonist Badiucao

Further information: Censorship in China and Internet censorship in China

Domestic Chinese criticism and debate on the potential environmental impacts caused by the Games are censored by the Chinese government on the press and internet. In recent years, censorship has been significantly stepped up. The government has banned, for example, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and, since 2019, Wikipedia.

The Citizen Lab report on the My2022 app (see below) discovered a "censorship keywords" list built into the app, and a feature that allows people to flag other "politically sensitive" expressions. The list of words included the names of Chinese leaders and government agencies, as well as references to the 1989 killing of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, and the religious group Falun Gong.

Espionage directed at athletes

Further information: Mass surveillance in China

China's espionage of athletes serves its political interests as well as addresses safety and COVID concerns. The smartphone app associated with the games, My2022, has been a particular subject of espionage concern.

All attendees to the Games, including athletes, audience members, and media, are required to use the My2022 app purportedly for daily Covid monitoring. The cybersecurity group Citizen Lab, a research institute at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, warned that the My2022 app fails to provide encryption on many of its files, and has security weaknesses that leave users exposed to data breaches. The Citizen Lab disclosed the concerns about the app on 3 December 2021, giving the organizing 15 days to respond and 45 days to fix the issues. A new iOS version of MY2022 was released on 6 January 2022, which failed to fix these problems, while adding a new "Green Health Code", feature that collects more medical data and also lacks SSL certificate validation making it vulnerable to attacks.

Numerous Olympic committees, including the British Olympic Association, the Australian Olympic Committee, Canadian Olympic Committee, NOC*NSF, and United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, have recommended that attendees use burner phones, virtual private networks (VPNs), and create email accounts for their time in China, while leaving personal smartphones and laptops at home.

Cyber security firm Internet 2.0 has also warned of potential security risks during the Olympics, when it examined the technology sponsors of the Games and their products that show "the sophisticated and broad surveillance culture that exists in China". Internet 2.0 noted that "China's national data security laws are not designed with the Western values of privacy and liberty and do not offer the same level of protection" as the laws allow the government to request access to the user data captured by these products.

Sjoerd den Daas incident

Main article: 2022 Winter Olympics dragging Incident

On 4 February 2022, a Chinese security guard dragged Dutch journalist Sjoerd den Daas away from his camera during a live broadcast. This forced den Daas to interrupt his broadcast. He was not harmed and was able to resume his broadcast elsewhere a few minutes later. It was not immediately clear why Chinese officials decided to forcibly move den Daas in the middle of his broadcast.

The IOC described the guard as "overzealous". Yan Jiarong, spokeswoman for the Beijing Olympics, said "we welcome all the international media" and will protect their legal rights. According to his employer, the Dutch broadcaster NOS, the situation "is increasingly becoming a daily reality for journalists in China".

Olympic torch relay

In October 2021 activists staged a protest at the Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece.

The choice to have Qi Fabao, a People's Liberation Army commander who participated in the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes, be a torchbearer has been controversial in India. As a result, India joined the diplomatic boycott of the games.

Amid human rights scrutiny, China chose a Uyghur athlete to help deliver the Olympic flame. For the final torch lighting, the Olympic flame was placed inside a giant snowflake in the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium by two athletes, Uyghur cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang from Xinjiang and Nordic combined competitor Zhao Jiawen.

Hanbok row

During the opening ceremony and the parade representing 56 ethnic groups of China, one of the performers, reportedly representing the Korean Chinese ethnic minorities, was wearing a Hanbok.

The display of Hanbok itself has drawn criticism and anger among some South Korean politicians and public, accusing China of claiming the country's traditional clothes.

Lee So-young MP of The ruling Democratic Party of Korea said he regretted seeing the use of Hanbok during the ceremony. Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung referred to it as cultural appropriation.

The opposition People Power Party also voiced its condemnation calling the move as "rude act" and urge Moon Jae-in government to act tough on China.

Hwang Hee, the South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attended the ceremony while also dressed in a hanbok.

However, some South Koreans, including progressive Justice Party member Kang Minjin, thought that their politicians' reactions were misguided, and saw the hanbok-wearing women as a representation of the estimated 2 million ethnic Koreans living in China.

Accidents

Accidents attributed to organizational error of the Beijing Olympics:

• Mateusz Sochowicz encountered an unexpected closed gate, despite giving a green light, in the middle of the luge's lane. He broke his legs.

Sporting controversies

Men's 1000 metre short-track speedskating event

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee filed an official appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the disqualification of two South Korean athletes from the men's 1000 metres speedskating event. As a result of their disqualification, two skaters from the Chinese speedskating team advanced to the finals, where they won the gold and silver medals for the event. An appeal was also made by the Hungarian team. Hwang Dae-heon of South Korea was disqualified for an "illegal late pass causing contact", and Lee June-seo of South Korea was penalized for a lane change that caused contact. In Final A, Shaolin Sándor Liu of Hungary was disqualified for a "straight lane change from inside to out causing contact" and an "arm block at the finish".

The International Skating Union received and rejected two protests from Hungary and South Korea on February 7, 2022. The International Skating Union (ISU) responded to the protests and said that according to the rules, decisions that were in regards to any disqualification for rule violations cannot be challenged, and added that their Chief Referee had reviewed the incident with the Video Referee and stood by his final decisions.

Men's 5000 metres relay short-track speed skating event

During the 5000 metres relay event, also in short track speed skating, in the semifinals of the event, the Chinese team fell with 10 laps to go. China's Li Wenlong's skate blade had collided with Canada's Pascal Dion's and the Chinese skater fell down. According to Dion, there was no reason for disqualification as he said the two accidentally bumped into each other and "it happens sometimes" and that he believed the judge made a "good, fair call for the Chinese". The judges determined that the Chinese team advanced to the A final, with no team disqualified during the race.

Men's snowboard slopestyle

In the men's snowboard slopestyle, Canada's Max Parrot had won the gold medal and China's Su Yiming won the silver. However the medal results stirred controversy on social media when BBC commentator Ed Leigh believed the gold medal should have been awarded to Su, and pointed out that Parrot, during his frontside 1440 in his second run, had actually committed a 'cardinal sin' by grabbing his knee instead of the board, and should have been deducted for it, but the judges had apparently failed to spot it. Replays showed him "failing to grab his board and instead clutching around his lower leg, meaning that the maneuver was incomplete and should have been marked down. Leigh wrote in the BBC, "The judges have put execution at such a premium that something like that should have cost him two or three points. So the gold has gone wrong there. ... I think Su Yiming actually took the gold there. This is a mistake on the judges' part."

Men's snowboard halfpipe

Public outrage was sparked by the controversially low judgment of Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano's second run scoring which had made commentators and fans cried "foul" on the judges. Hirano then had to repeat the exceptional performance in his third run, and successfully landing the very "dangerous" triple cork again, this time under greater public scrutiny of the judges, and moving from second place to winning the gold medal.

Men's speed skating 500 metres

In the men's 500 metres speed skating event, a false start was called in the last two heats, one of which included current World Cup champion Laurent Dubreuil. This was questioned by 1992 Winter Olympics Champion Bart Veldkamp, who called it "very suspicious" as it benefitted China's athlete Gao Tingyu who was in the lead at the time. Replays showed there was no false start. Due to the false start, Dubreuil had to be more cautious to his start, and his reaction time was slower than the initial start. Furthermore, a false start would have disrupted the athletes' concentration, and also used up energy.