National

Data: CrowdTangle; Chart: Thomas Oide/Axios

Team USA athletes generated far less interest on social media during the Winter Olympics than those who competed in the Summer Games, according to data from CrowdTangle.

Why it matters: The numbers suggest a broader branding problem for the Winter Olympics, which saw declining ratings and fewer marketable stars.

It didn't help that the U.S. is fifth in the medal count in Beijing after coming in first in Tokyo.

By the numbers: Simone Biles alone garnered three times as many interactions on her Instagram account over a 14-day span in the Tokyo Olympics as the top ten Winter Olympians combined. 

Snowboarder Shaun White dominated Team USA's Instagram presence during his fifth and final Games at 2.74 million interactions — more than the next nine Americans combined. But it was a far cry from Biles' 16 million. 

White registered the four biggest Instagram posts among U.S. athletes, by interactions, with his "Thank you, snowboarding" farewell getting the top spot.

The big picture: While the Beijing games drew fewer TV viewers than Tokyo in 2021, the ratings gulf is not as big as the gap in social engagement among the event's stars.

Between the lines: The summer Olympics boast more events that double as the world's most popular sports, including soccer and basketball. 

However, the most popular summer athletes competed in sports that many fans only pay attention to once every four years — swimming, gymnastics and track.

15-year old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who became the most polarizing figure of the games after being reinstated following a positive drug test, hasn't posted to her account since January.

Zoom out: Looking beyond Instagram, younger Olympians have built brands on TikTok. White has 1.5 million followers, snowboarder Maddie Mastro has 608k and figure skater Karen Chen has 588k. 

Facebook was a less important platform for Team USA, as many of the younger athletes do not maintain a page.

Shaun White had 11x more engagement on Instagram than on Facebook.

Biles vacuums up Olympics attention on social media

Exclusive poll: Why Americans are turned off by the Olympics

Winter Olympians go under the radar

The numbers suggest a broader branding problem for the Winter Olympics.

2022 Winter Olympics

Beijing Winter Olympics

Shifts in technology and media are changing the way we play, watch and understand sports. Business models are adapting and social change is forcing those in charge of teams and leagues to reconsider decades-old practices.

Sports

Bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor won a fifth Olympics medal on Saturday — taking home bronze in the two-woman event and becoming the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history. 

The big picture: Meyers Taylor, who was named the flagbearer at the closing ceremony for Team USA, tied speedskater Shani Davis earlier this week with four medals after she took silver in the monobob. 

By the numbers:  Meyers Taylor, 37, has competed in four Winter Olympics, starting with the 2010 Vancouver Games. 

She won a bronze medal there in the two-woman event, and followed that up with a silver in the 2014 Sochi Games and a silver in the 2018 Pyeonchang Olympics.   

What they're saying: "That is overwhelming," Meyers Taylor said. "It's so crazy to hear that stat and know that I'm part of a legacy that's bigger than me."

What's next: Meyers Taylor hinted that she would retire after the Beijing Olympics, saying that "there's a good chance that it's my last one," ESPN reported.

"It's going to be really hard to top this Olympics. Two medals and now closing it out with flagbearer, it's going to be really hard to top that," she said. 

She was also named the Opening Ceremony flagbearer, but had to give up her role after testing positive for COVID-19. She was cleared to compete a few days later. 

Elana Meyers Taylor becomes most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history

The bobsledder is now the most decorated most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history.

Elana Meyers Taylor and Sylvia Hoffman of Team USA are seen during a two-woman bobsleigh heat at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Photo by Anton Novoderezhkin\TASS via Getty Images

Axios Sports

Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skater who came to Beijing as the favorite to win gold, will leave without a medal — and as the unfortunate villain of these Olympics.

Why it matters: A child was failed by the adults around her, and figure skating was failed by an anti-doping system that protected no one.

The result was one of the cringiest half hours of television you'll ever watch: Valieva's coach barely tried to comfort her after she completed her disastrous long program, during which she looked broken.

Her teammate, Anna Shcherbakova, sat alone after winning gold, and said she felt an "emptiness inside." Her other teammate, Alexandra Trusova, was shouting and crying after winning silver.

What they're saying: "Irreparable harm" is what the Court of Arbitration for Sport used as justification to allow Valieva to skate despite her positive test. "None of this is the fault of the athlete," the panel wrote.

"Well, here was the irreparable harm," writes Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel. "Valieva is a victim of child abuse ... Yet the Olympics not only kept her with her captives, they emboldened and empowered them."

"We watched her skate ... likely already aware that this scandal will follow her the rest of her life," writes The Ringer's Michael Baumann. "Or maybe that realization is yet to come, which might be worse."

Meanwhile, the system is pointing fingers at itself: The CAS criticized anti-doping rules, the IOC criticized the decision by the CAS, and IOC president Thomas Bach criticized Valieva's entourage.

Of note: 56% of Americans familiar with the scandal believe Valieva should have been banned, while 44% believe only her coach and team doctor should have been banned since she's a minor, per exclusive data from The Harris Poll (survey conducted last weekend).

The bottom line: The Olympics have an integrity problem, and this scandal — in which a country wasn't held accountable, and in which adults sent a child to suffer in public — only reinforces that reality.

Go deeper: The Winter Olympics medal tracker

Editor's note: This story originally published on Feb. 18.

How the system failed Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva

A child was failed by the adults around her, and figure skating was failed by an anti-doping system that protected no one.

Kamila Valieva cries after completing her disastrous long program.

Photo: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images

🛷 Elana Meyers Taylor wins historic fifth Olympic medal

⛸️ Court denies US skaters' appeal to get silver medals from team competition

❄️ The Winter Olympics' COVID strategy worked pretty well

📃 How the system failed Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva

📸 In photos: Beijing Winter Olympics Day 15 highlights

Data: International Olympic Committee; Chart: Connor Rothschild/Axios

Olympics dashboard

Elana Meyers Taylor and partner Sylvia Hoffman. Photo by Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images

The top court in sports denied an appeal from U.S. figure skaters, who wanted to get their Olympic medals before the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the AP reports.

Driving the news:  The appeal and emergency hearing happened on Saturday after the medal ceremony for the team event was delayed last week over a "legal issue."

It was later revealed that Kamila Valieva, a member of the Russian Olympic Committee team that won gold, had tested positive for a banned substance.

The big picture: Although the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) allowed Valieva to compete in the women's individual event, saying a ban would cause "irreparable harm," its ruling doesn't address the gold medal she won.

Valieva ultimately placed fourth, but if she had medaled, there would have been no medal ceremony.

If a further investigation disqualifies the ROC's result, Team USA's silver would be upgraded to gold. Japan, which won bronze, would get the silver and Canada would be the new bronze medalist. 

But the ROC said that they would take "exhaustive measures  to protect the rights and interests of the ROC Team and to preserve the honestly won Olympic gold medal."

What they're saying: The letter sent to IOC from attorney Paul Greene says that the committee's “own rules mandate that a victory ceremony ‘to present medals to the athletes shall follow the conclusion of each sports event.’”

“A dignified medal ceremony from our clients’ vantage point is one in the Medals Plaza as originally planned and afforded to all other medalists,”  Greene added.

“Having a medal ceremony at an Olympic Games is not something that can be replicated anywhere else, and they should be celebrated in front of the world before leaving Beijing,” U.S. Figure Skating executive director Ramsey Baker said in a statement to the AP.

What's next: The court's reasoning will be published in the next days, according to a statement from CAS. 

US skaters medal appeal

Court denies U.S. skaters' appeal for medal ceremony for team competition

The medal ceremony for the team event was delayed last week over a "legal issue."

Silver medalists Team United States celebrate during the Team Event flower ceremony. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

The Winter Olympics are winding down with just two days of competition left before the Closing Ceremony. On Friday, figure skaters were in action on the rink in the pairs competition, while skiers faced tough conditions in minus-12 degrees Fahrenheit weather.

The big picture: Americans David Wise and Alex Ferriera won silver and bronze, respectively, in the freeski halfpipe. 

Wise has medaled in all three freeski halfpipe events since it debuted in 2014, winning gold in 2014 and 2018 to go with his silver medal. 

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA - FEBRUARY 19: Alex Ferreira of Team United States competes during the Men's Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe on Day 15 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park on February 19, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

China's Peng Cheng and China's Jin Yang compete in the pair skating free skating. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP) (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)

David Wise of Team United States performs a trick at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park on February 19, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

BEIJING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 19: Juraj Slafkovsky #20 of Team Slovakia is challenged by Christian Folin #2 of Team Sweden in the first period during the Men's Ice Hockey Bronze Medal match between Team Sweden and Team Slovakia on Day 15 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium on February 19, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

BEIJING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 19: Athletes compete in the Men's 50km Mass Start race within the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on February 19, 2022 at Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Beijing, China. (Photo by Dimitris Isevidis/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

BEIJING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 19: Anna Hasselborg of Team Sweden competes against Team Switzerland during the Women's Bronze Medal Game on Day 14 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Aquatics Centre on February 19, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

In photos: Beijing Winter Olympics Day 15 highlights

Americans David Wise and Alex Ferriera won silver and bronze, respectively, in the freeski halfpipe.

USA's David Wise competes in the freestyle skiing men's freeski halfpipe final run during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

Daily testing, a barricade between the Olympic village and surrounding Beijing and strict rules prohibiting entry and exit from the "closed loop" have defined the Winter Olympics as officials tried to keep COVID out at all costs. 

By the numbers: As of Saturday, 436 athletes, coaches and stakeholders had tested positive for COVID-19 out of 1.7 million tests conducted since Jan. 23, according to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

184 athletes and team officials have tested positive since Jan. 23, including U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor and U.S. figure skater Vincent Zhou. 

At least six members of Russia's women's ice hockey team tested positive in one of the largest team outbreaks, leading teams squaring off against the Russians to wear masks on the ice.

Cases in the bubble have been in the single digits for five straight days and new cases, most of which had been found at the Beijing airport, largely dropped off as the Games went on, per the committee. 

Organizers reported zero cases inside the closed loop two straight days during the final week of the Olympics and just one case was reported on Friday. 

The big picture: Beijing's data is relatively on par with COVID cases reported during the Summer Olympics in Japan, where more than 430 people tested positive, including 32 athletes. 

But COVID cases at the Winter Olympics have stayed relatively contained to the bubble, while cases outside the Games in Tokyo skyrocketed. 

Between the lines: While officials tout the Games as a "great achievement," the strict protocols were not without mental hurdles for the athletes competing.

"My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes," Russian biathlete Valeria Vasnetsova wrote on Instagram from a quarantine hotel after testing positive. 

"I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired."

The bottom line: The Games have not been completely devoid of COVID as officials had hoped, but the fact that cases dwindled as the Olympics went on is a sign that the "closed loop" largely worked.

What to know about the Winter Olympics' COVID protocols

In photos: Inside the COVID-19 Winter Olympics

Olympic teams complain about conditions at quarantine hotels

Editor's note: This story has been updated with COVID-19 data from Saturday.

The Winter Olympics' COVID strategy worked pretty well

184 athletes have tested positive since Jan. 23.

Healthcare workers are seen during women's 3000m speed skating race during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the National Speed Skating Oval 

Healthcare workers are seen during women's 3000m speed skating race during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Photo: Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images

Eileen Gu, Team China's 18-year-old U.S.-born skier, led the Winter Olympics highlights on Thursday — winning her second Beijing Games gold medal, this time in the freeski halfpipe.

The big picture: Team USA's men's curling team put up a good fight but lost their bronze medal match 8-5 to Canada on Day 14 of the Games.

American John Shuster reacts during the men's bronze medal game of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games curling competition against Canada Feb. 18.

Team USA's John Shuster reacts during the men's Olympic bronze medal game against Canada at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing on Feb. 18. Photo:  Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images

American Frank Delduca and his team take part in the 4-man bobsleigh training at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Feb. 18.

American Frank Delduca and his team take part in the 4-man bobsleigh training at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Yanqing on February 18, 2022. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images)

France's Jean Frederic Chapuis, Germany's Daniel Bohnacker and Switzerland's Alex Fiva during the men's Olympic ski cross 1/8 finals at Genting Snow Park on in Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 18. 

France's Jean Frederic Chapuis, Germany's Daniel Bohnacker and Switzerland's Alex Fiva during the men's Olympic ski cross 1/8 finals at Genting Snow Park on in Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 18. Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Finland's Harri Pesonen scores his team's second goal during the men's play-off semifinal match of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games ice hockey competition against Slovakia Feb. 18.

Finland's Harri Pesonen scores his team's second goal during the men's play-off semifinal match of the Olympic ice hockey competition against Slovakia at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Feb. 18. Photo: Matt Slocum/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

In photos: Beijing Winter Olympics Day 14 highlights

Eileen Gu won her 2nd Beijing Games gold medal, this time in the freeski halfpipe.

China's Gu Ailing Eileen takes part in a practice session ahead of her Olympic gold medal-winning freestyle skiing women's freeski halfpipe final run on Feb. 18. 

China's Gu Ailing Eileen takes part in a practice session ahead of her Olympic gold medal-winning freestyle skiing women's freeski halfpipe final run at the Genting Snow Park H & S Stadium in Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 18. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Eileen Gu, Team China's 18-year-old U.S.-born skier, won the gold medal in the freeski halfpipe, with a score of 95.25 on day 14 of the Winter Olympics.

The big picture: It's Gu's third medal and second gold of the Beijing Games. She also won gold in the big air freestyle and earned silver in the women's freestyle skiing slopestyle.

What she's saying: "It has been two straight weeks of the most intense highs and lows I’ve ever experienced in my life," said Gu, from San Francisco. 

"It has changed my life forever. The second I landed the last 16 in big air I knew my life was never going to be the same. Even then I would have never imagined that I'd walk away with another silver and another gold."

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Gu.

Eileen Gu wins gold in freeski halfpipe for 3rd Beijing Olympics medal

It's the U.S.-born skier's 2nd gold for Team China.

Gold medallist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team China is seen after her final run during the Women's Freeski Halfpipe at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics  on February 18, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. 

Gold medallist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team China after her final run in the women's freeski halfpipe flower ceremony on day 14 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China. Photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Axios Login

Diving deeper into the VR broadcast of the Olympics beyond my first look, I found there was even more to discover and appreciate about its unique view into the Beijing games — but also a longer list of downsides.

Why it matters: Virtual reality has the potential to bring people both closer to the action and deeper behind the scenes. At the same time, it can be more isolating, tiring and blurry than watching a broadcast on a nice TV. 

Details: While I had taken NBC's Olympics VR Olympics app for a spin earlier in the games, I wanted to see how it would feel to watch a highly anticipated event in VR. For that, I chose Wednesday night's gold medal women's hockey game between the U.S. and Canada, watching the first period in VR and the second and third period on TV.

How it works: The NBC Olympics VR experience is a dedicated app running on a Meta Quest. 

For hockey, the app gives viewers a seat in a photo box right at center ice. People can watch the action from that vantage point or look up, near where an overhead scoreboard would be, and watch the broadcast view that people watching on TV see. 

An option I missed in my first go-around with the app allows viewers to drop NBC's virtual suite in favor of a full 360-degree view. While I rarely turned far enough around for it to matter, I'd rather have the full stadium to look at than a cartoonish set.

It's a great seat. You are right at center ice, in between the two teams' benches. When I looked left, I saw the U.S. players and coaches, while the Canadian team was on my right.

You see more of the event. Watching at least some of the action in VR helped me deal with my FOMO of not being physically at the games. I didn't just see the action on the ice, but also photographers taking pictures and the crews that shoveled ice between whistles. 

You feel like you are there. Having a specific seat and point of view is a grounding experience that is much closer to attending an event than watching it on TV.

Multitasking is tough. It's hard not just to, say, work and watch TV, but also to grab a snack or text with friends who are also watching the game, which I found myself lifting up the headset to do. 

It's a less relaxing experience. There's more mental work you have to perform in VR, like figuring out where to look. I missed the benefit of curation by experienced TV directors that keeps you close to the action. 

There's a bit more delay. This wasn't a huge deal, especially because I was in my bubble while wearing the headset, but I was on the order of 10 to 15 seconds behind where the action was on the TV broadcast.

The overhead view is a great option, especially when the puck was close to either net, where my view was the blurriest. However, the TV broadcast had the action going one direction while my view was the other. That both broke the realism and made for more work when trying to locate the action on the ice.

The bottom line: The VR experience appeals to me less as a way to watch a game than it is to get a feel for what it is like to be there: the mostly empty stands, the signage, the photographers. But it only takes a few minutes in the headset to get that. Overall, TV provides a sharper, more pleasant way to watch a game.

Giving the VR Olympics another chance

Watching the games via headset has both ups and downs.

USA's Lee Stecklein and Canada's Natalie Spooner compete for the puck during the women's gold medal game

Photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Axios China

Beijing mostly got what it wanted from the Winter Olympics — a smooth Games without a major COVID outbreak. But political and human rights controversies were never far from the surface.

Why it matters: The Chinese government has poured billions of dollars into new infrastructure, facilities and COVID testing for the Winter Olympics, hoping the investment would pay off with a boost to China's international image.

The big picture: The Games went smoothly for the most part, with gorgeous winter backdrops and stars like Eileen Gu winning both medals and social media love.

Yes, but: All the things that made the Beijing Games controversial in the first place continued to bubble up throughout the competition, creating an atmosphere of underlying tension.

The opening ceremony featured a Uyghur cross-country skier, Dinigeer Yilamujiang, as torchbearer. She was the only Uyghur on Team China this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

After Yilamujiang finished 43rd among 65 athletes, she avoided reporters on her way out.

The Chinese government is perpetrating a genocide against Uyghurs in China's northwest. Uyghurs abroad compared the Chinese government's showcasing of Yilamujiang to Nazi Germany's prominent display of a German Jew in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Details: Anti-China sentiment in South Korea spiked during the Games, amid accusations of biased judging in the short-track speed skating competition.

Networks of bots and influencers on Western social media platforms pushed out glowing narratives about the Olympics to audiences outside China, the New York Times found.

The International Olympic Committee issued a rare rebuke of a Chinese Olympic official after a Feb. 17 press conference in which the official broke with political neutrality by stating: "Taiwan is an indivisible part of China."

Many athletes felt afraid to publicly criticize China's human rights record before heading to Beijing, a fear fanned by Chinese authorities who warned international athletes of "punishment."

But Nils van der Poel, a 25-year-old Swedish speedskater who won two gold medals, spoke freely after he returned home to Sweden. 

The Olympics is "a fantastic sporting event where you unite the world and nations meet," he said. "But so did Hitler before invading Poland, and so did Russia before invading Ukraine."

“I think it is extremely irresponsible to give it to a country that violates human rights as blatantly as the Chinese regime is doing," he said.

Beijing avoided Olympics disaster

Controversy simmered, but didn't boil over.

For the second time in seven months, American women are ensuring that Team USA comes home with plenty of hardware.

State of play: As of Tuesday night, women had won 13 of Team USA's 17 medals in Beijing, with nine coming in women's events and four coming in mixed events.

🥇 Gold (6): Chloe Kim (snowboarding halfpipe); Erin Jackson (500m speedskating), Kaillie Humphries (monobob), Ashley Caldwell (mixed team aerials), Lindsey Jacobellis (snowboard cross and mixed snowboard cross)

🥈 Silver (4): Elana Meyers Taylor (monobob), Julia Marino (snowboarding slopestyle), Jaelin Kauf (freestyle skiing moguls), Four athletes (team figure skating)

🥉 Bronze (3): Jessie Diggins (cross-country skiing freestyle sprint), Megan Nick (freestyle skiing aerials), Madison Hubbell (mixed ice dance)

By the numbers: 108 of Team USA's 224 members are women, marking the 11th consecutive Winter Olympics that the U.S. has tied or broken the record for most women competing for a single nation.

The U.S. is also the only nation to have four different women win individual gold in Beijing: Jacobellis, Kim, Humphries and Jackson.

American women were similarly impactful last summer in Tokyo, comprising 54% of the team (329 of 613) and winning 58% of the medals (66 of 113), including 23 of 39 golds.

The backdrop: This is a momentous year for American women's sports, with Title IX turning 50 in June. That legislation directly impacted the Olympic pipeline by making college athletics more accessible to women.

Data: International Olympic Committtee; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

The big picture: Women's increased Olympic presence is hardly limited to the U.S. Representation has steadily grown since the first modern Games in 1896, the last time women were barred from competing.

Women comprised just 2.2% of athletes in their first Summer Games (1900) and 4.3% in their first Winter Games (1924). They didn't crack 10% until 1936, 20% until 1960 or 30% until 1994.

Now, the Olympics are nearly gender equal: A Winter Games-record 45% of athletes in Beijing are women, and 49% of athletes in Tokyo were women, a Summer Games record.

American women lead the way in Beijing

Team USA has tied or broken the record for most women competing for a single nation for 11 straight Winter Olympics.

Photo illustration of Team USA members Chloe Kim, Erin Jackson and Ashley Caldwell against a background of stars and stripes.

Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photos: Wang Haofei/Xinhua, Mao Jianjun/China News Service, Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Data: International Olympic Committee; Chart: Connor Rothschild/Axios 

The Winter Olympics medal tracker

Here's how many medals each country has won at the Winter Olympics.

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