Chasing Gold: Opening ceremony makes way for the first full day of competition at 2022 Beijing Games
The 2022 Beijing Olympics are "officially" underway after the rather subdued opening ceremony that took place Friday. For those who didn't feel like getting up early in the morning to catch the live telecast, NBC will show a repeat of it in a few hours at 8 p.m. ET.
The United States chose bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor and curler John Shuster as flag bearers, but speed skater Brittany Bowe walked in Meyers Taylor's place as she is in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.
Greece, as customery with every Olympic games, was the first country to lead the parade of nations.
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Slippery slope: NBC's coverage of the opening ceremony made it a point to mention the human rights violations of the host country. Women’s cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang was one of two athletes to light the Olympic flame. Yilamujiang is also Uyghur, China’s Muslim ethnic minority who are genocide victims.
"Of course, those are the people from the region of Northwest China that have attracted so much attention in the conversation of human rights," primetime host Mike Tirico said during the broadcast.
Before the games, NBC executives said they won't shy away from the topic and moving forward will report the news of any event in China as warranted. It will remain a topic that will be watched throughout the games.
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Getting out in front: The United States skating team is off to a terrific start helping the Americans place first through the first day of the team competition, winning the men's short program and rhythm dance. Russian Olympic Committee is second and China is in third place. Gold-medal hopeful Nathan Chen set the pace with a season-best score of 111.71 in the short program.
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All the way live: If you've already seen the opening ceremony and want to get straight to the compeitions, the action gets started in primetime on USA Network (and streaming on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app).
Mixed doubles curling gets things going with Switzerland vs. Sweden, before the snowboarders take center stage with qualifying in the women's snowboard slopestyle.
Canada takes on Finland in women’s ice hockey, and the finale will have individual Normal Hill Qualifying in Men’s Ski Jumping.
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