Winter Olympics 2022: Live-Stream Schedule, Predictions for Friday's Events
The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing is well underway. The competitions began on Wednesday, and the opening ceremony kicked off at 6:30 a.m. ET on Friday (7:30 p.m. local time in China).
While Friday won't feature any medal events—the first medals will be awarded on Saturday—there will be plenty of action for fans to enjoy. NBCUniversal has a full day of coverage planned, too, beginning with the opening ceremony.
Here, we'll dive into the day's biggest events along with scheduling and broadcast information for the Beijing Olympics.
Friday's Coverage and Live Stream
NBC's coverage will begin in the early morning in America, with a live airing of the opening ceremony at Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest.
Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremonies
Date: Friday, February 4
Time: 6:30 a.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local time in China)
TV: NBC, USA Network
Live Stream: NBC Sports app, NBCOlympics.com and Peacock
NBC has a full day of coverage planned following the ceremony, including a special edition of the "Today" show and a prime-time re-airing of the opening ceremony focussing on the athletes of TEAM USA. Live stream will be available on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
6:30 a.m. ET: Live presentation of the Winter Games Opening Ceremony
9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET: Special Olympic edition of the "Today" show
12 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET: Winter Olympics daytime show
8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET: Opening Ceremony enhanced prime-time presentation
Friday Event Schedule
Several events will also air live on Friday, either on the NBC Sports App, USA Network or both. Live-streaming for every event will be available on Peacock.
Friday's event schedule is as follows:
2 p.m. ET
Curling Mixed-Doubles Round Robin, USA vs. Sweden: USA Network
4 p.m. ET
Figure Skating Team Men's Short Program (re-air): USA Network
5:15 p.m. ET
Figure Skating Team Rhythm Dance (re-air): USA Network
6:30 p.m. ET
Figure Skating Team Pairs Short Program: USA Network
8:05 p.m. ET
Curling Mixed-Doubles Round Robin, Australia vs. Norway: NBC Sports
Curling Mixed-Doubles Round Robin, Switzerland vs. Sweden: NBC Sports, USA Network
9:45 p.m. ET
Snowboarding Women's Slopestyle Qualifying: NBC Sports
10 p.m. ET
Alpine Skiing Men's Downhill Training: NBC Sports
Snowboarding Women's Slopestyle Qualifying: USA Network
11 p.m. ET
Ice Hockey Women's Prelim, Canada vs. Finland: 11:10 on NBC Sports, 11:50 on USA Network
Preview and Predictions
Friday's slate likely won't be as exciting as some of the upcoming days. The competition should be entertaining enough, but we'll largely be in preliminary matches and qualifying rounds. As previously mentioned, medal rounds won't begin until Saturday.
A few events do stand out, though. The qualifying round for women's slopestyle snowboarding will provide an early glimpse of Genting Snow Park, a venue that promises to be among the world's best for the sport.
"The course here is very challenging. It's immaculate. It's one of the best courses that's ever been built—ever," English-speaking in-venue announcer Nelson Wormstead said, per Lori Nickel of USA Today. "And they're really excited about it. We talked to some athletes yesterday so they were hyped."
American Jamie Anderson will look to win another gold after winning gold in the inaugural slopestyle event in 2014 and again in 2018. Anderson has a legitimate show at pulling off the three-peat, but she'll face stiff competition from 20-year-old New Zealand competitor Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.
While Anderson is one of the world's most decorated snowboarders, Sadowski-Synnott is an up-and-comer who recently took gold at the 2021 World Championships and at the Winter X Games just last month.
Sadowski-Synnott has taken first place in her last three international slopestyle events. The prediction here is that she continues rolling with another gold.
Late in the evening, fans will get to see the women's ice hockey qualifier between Canada and Finland. Hockey almost always makes for a good show, and this showdown should be no different. However, Team Canada shouldn't struggle much against Finland.
Canada should be considered one of the favorites at the winter games. It won four straight winter golds before coming in second to the United States in Pyeongchang four years ago. Canada also won the 2021 World Championship and has won four of the last five against Finland in major tournament play.
Expect the Canadian women's team to make another strong push toward gold. It beat Switzerland 12-1 on Thursday. Expect it to continue rolling on Friday.