The
Winter Olympics in Beijing just stepped into the second day of the fortnight
and the Games saw athletes and officials vent their anger about the foods
and facilities they have been subjected to in the Games Village amid bitterly
cold weather.

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The
Germans were the first to make their horror experience known about poor
catering at the Alpine course near Yanqing.

 “The catering is extremely questionable
because really it is not catering at all. I would have expected that the
Olympic Committee would be capable of providing hot meals. There are no hot
meals. There are crisps, some nuts and chocolate and nothing else. This shows a
lack of focus on high-performance sport,” said Christian Schwaiger, the German
skiing coach.

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Other
contingents might have sensed this before and came to Beijing prepared, for
example, Team USA brought camping food along such as bags of pasta. But to stir
it and make a meal out of it, they needed hot water from Beijing’s Winter
Olympics facility.

Sweden
talked to their skiing chiefs to start cross-country races earlier in the day
to protect its athletes from freezing temperature, breezy winds and bitter
cold. 

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In
the mountains of Zhangjiakou, about 200km northwest of Beijing, the temperature
recorded was -20C degrees. Team Sweden chief Anders Bystroem referred to
International Ski Federation (FIS) rules, according to which the organisers
must stop competition when temperatures are below -20C, suggesting the wind
chill factor needs to be accounted for too.

‘Frida Karlsson was completely
destroyed’

“We
have the cold limits we have, there is not much to say about that. I do not
know if they also measure the wind effect. If FIS says it is -17 degrees and
it’s windy, and it’s -35 degrees with the wind chill, what do you do then?”
asked Bystroem.

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“The
women’s skiathlon on Saturday at 4 PM and Frida Karlsson was completely
destroyed by the cold. It’s not good that the sprint starts even later. We have
talked in the team about making a request (to race earlier) during the day if
it’s possible. At the same time I don’t think it will be possible to change the
time because of the Olympic schedule,” he added.

Sweden’s
Frida Karlsson was on the verge of collapsing after finishing fifth in the 15km
skiathlon, prompting concerns among her teammates.

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Russia, Finland criticise
quarantine conditions

Meanwhile,
Russia and Finland are unhappy about the quarantine conditions for those who
test positive for COVID-19. It is learned that more than 360 Games
participants, including 142 athletes and national staff, have tested positive
upon arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport.

Russian
biathlon competitor Valeria Vasnetsova posted on Instagram from one of the
city’s quarantine hotels that her “stomach hurts” from a lack of quality food
being delivered.

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“I
am very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes. I want all this to
end. I cry every day. I’m very tired,” she said. Vasnetsova also posted a grim
photo of food she was given and claimed it was “breakfast, lunch and dinner for
five days already”. She said she ate some of the pasta but it was “impossible”
to eat the rest, adding “my bones are already sticking out” because he has lost
a lot of weight in Beijing.