Follow our latest coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics. BEIJING — In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, which has sweltering temperatures for much of the year, children are ditching their flip flops for skis and hitting the indoor slopes. Out west, high up on the Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province has become an unlikely center for curling, the traditional Scottish sport known as “ice kettle” in Chinese. Over in the northeastern province of Liaoning, a group of retired men gather every day in the winter to strap on helmets and…
Tag: Snowboarding
Do Airbags Make Things Too Easy for Aerial Snowboarders and Skiiers?
ZHANGJIAKOU, China — In the Olympic-level snowboarding and freestyle skiing world, there is an innocuous-sounding compound word that almost always evokes a visceral reaction — a deep sigh, a shaking of the head, a knowing nod. Airbags. Nothing has revolutionized the halfpipe, slopestyle and big air competitions quite like giant airbags. And nothing has so divided devotees of the events, who see airbags either as useful training tools or a misguided shortcut to success, even cheating. “Airbags have become like the performance-enhancing drug for freestyle skiing and snowboarding over the…
Chloe Kim and Shaun White Thrilled Fans at the Dew Tour
The December Dew Tour stop is always a big one for the best snowboarders and freestyle skiers and for the fans who come to party and watch. In an Olympic season like this, it is even bigger — a key Olympic qualifying event for many athletes and a strong peek at what to expect come February. If this year’s event in Copper Mountain, Colo., was an indication, the competition in the halfpipe and the slopestyle course at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games is going to be tight, filled with bigger…
Chloe Kim Is Grown Up and Ready for the Olympic Spotlight
She repeated the words of the Instagram insult. She would not say who wrote them. “It’s definitely one of those things that I wish I didn’t see, but I’m also grateful,” Kim said. “If I didn’t see it, I would have been, like, ‘Oh, cool, we’re still all good.’ It’s helpful for me to know. It definitely made me put my guard up a little more, which I think is OK. You can’t trust anyone.” ‘Chloe time’ The front entry of Kim’s new house was a pileup of shoes, mostly…