Winter Olympics

Over the past few days, the action has begun in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Several sports have started holding events, as athletes in curling, ice hockey, figure skating and more are now battling it out in fields filled with tough competitors.

Now, things are really about to pick up. Because the opening ceremony took place Friday at Beijing National Stadium, and the event schedule is about to get busy.

The first medals will be up for grabs on Saturday, when athletes will be battling for golds in biathlon, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, short track speed skating, ski jumping and speed skating.

There will be coverage of the Olympics on NBC, CNBC and USA Network throughout the Games, which run through Feb. 20. The action can also be streamed live on Peacock, the NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com. A complete coverage schedule is available at NBCOlympics.com.

Here's a closer look at what you can catch during NBC's prime-time coverage every night during the Winter Games.

           

Daily NBC Primetime Schedule

Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET unless otherwise noted.

Friday, Feb. 4

Opening ceremony (replay)

         

Saturday, Feb. 5

Figure skating, alpine skiing

        

Sunday, Feb. 6 (7 p.m. ET)

Figure skating, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing

          

Monday, Feb. 7

Speed skating, freestyle skiing, alpine skiing, figure skating

           

Tuesday, Feb. 8

Snowboarding, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing

         

Wednesday, Feb. 9

Snowboarding, speed skating, figure skating

            

Thursday, Feb. 10

Snowboarding, freestyle skiing, alpine skiing

         

Friday, Feb. 11

Snowboarding, skeleton, alpine skiing

          

Saturday, Feb. 12

Skeleton, bobsled, alpine skiing, figure skating

           

Sunday, Feb. 13 (10:45 p.m. ET)

Bobsled, figure skating

            

Monday, Feb. 14

Snowboarding, freestyle skiing, bobsled, alpine skiing

           

Tuesday, Feb. 15

Bobsled, figure skating, alpine skiing, speed skating

         

Wednesday, Feb. 16

Freestyle skiing, speed skating, alpine skiing

            

Thursday, Feb. 17

Freestyle skiing, speed skating, figure skating

           

Friday, Feb. 18

Freestyle skiing, bobsled, figure skating

         

Saturday, Feb. 19

Bobsled, figure skating

         

Sunday, Feb. 20

Closing ceremony (replay)

          

Early Olympic Recap

If you're just tuning in to Olympic coverage now that the opening ceremony is over, you've missed only a bit of the action. However, there's also already been some intrigue in Beijing.

Curling matches and ice hockey games have taken place, but it's still early in the Games for both of these sports. There won't be any medals up for grabs for some time, and there will be plenty more matches and games to watch throughout the Winter Olympics.

On Thursday night (Friday morning in Beijing), the figure skating tournament got underway with the men's short program, the pairs short program and the ice dancers' rhythm dance. And the United States began in impressive fashion.

Nathan Chen had a terrific showing in the men's short program, posting a score of 111.71 points. That puts him well ahead of the rest of the field in the men's competition, as Japan's Shoma Uno was second with a score of 105.46.

It wasn't a surprise that the 22-year-old was atop the leaderboard, as he's the heavy favorite to win the gold medal in men's figure skating. But he wasn't the only American to record a first-place finish.

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue posted a score of 86.56 in the rhythm dance discipline, which puts them atop the leaderboard for ice dancers. Meanwhile, Team USA's Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier placed third in the pairs short program for another solid showing.

With so many strong performances, the U.S. leads the figure skating team event with 28 points, just ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee (26). And it sets them up well for the rest of the figure skating competitions still to come.

"We can walk away with a medal for sure. What color? It's hard to say," Chen said, per Dave Skretta of the Associated Press. "But I have faith in my teammates, and I know they're going to do the best they can do."

Figure skating doesn't resume until Saturday night (Sunday morning in Beijing), which is when the women's short program and men's free skate take place. And there's a chance that U.S. could remain in first as a team, considering Chen will likely deliver another strong performance.

So it should be entertaining to watch how the rest of the figure skating competitions unfold through the rest of the Winter Games, as they're already off to an exciting start.

The first two competitions for the Winter Olympics figure skating team event took place on Thursday night in Beijing. 

The United States is in the lead with 20 points. The Russian Olympic Committee follows with 17 points and Italy rounds out the top three with 14.

First, Nathan Chen topped the men's short program with a brilliant run to earn 10 points for the United States. He scored a career-best 111.71, the second-highest short program score ever behind 111.82 by Yuzuru Hanyu at the 2020 Four Continents Championships.

✨ @nathanwchen is the moment. #WinterOlympics
https://t.co/D3U2EXw3BS

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) February 4, 2022

Chen is chasing his first Olympics gold medal, the only gold medal that has eluded him throughout his senior career. After his run, he spoke about the difference in his mindset compared to 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

"Last Olympics, I was just three senior internationals in, I hadn't really competed internationally, so just a very large lack of experience," Chen said. "But now coming into this, I'm really happy to be here, very excited to be here and surrounded by amazing teammates."

Next up was the rhythm dance competition, which was won by Team USA's Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, The three-time ice dance world medalists had a strong showing with a score of 86.56 to earn 10 more points for the United States. 

What a move. 🤯@MadiHubbell / @ZachTDonohue x #WinterOlympics https://t.co/8y5Gk3uMV7

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 4, 2022

.@MadiHubbell and @ZachTDonohue doing @JanetJackson proud. #WinterOlympics https://t.co/l6D8tlTAsv

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) February 4, 2022

Russian Olympic Committee members and reigning world champions Viktoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov were the favorites coming into the competition and finished second with 85.05. Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri placed third with 83.83.

It's the third time that 10 countries have qualified for the team event. There will be men's, women's, pairs and ice dance competitions. Teams earn 1-10 points based on placement in each discipline, with first place earning 10 points and 10th place earning one point.

The five teams with the lowest scores after the short program will be eliminated. The top five teams will advance to the free skate to compete for the medals.

Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing kicked off with the men's short program Thursday night.

Team USA's Nathan Chen placed in first place with a score of 111.71. With the finish, he gives the United States 10 points towards its team score.

Nathan Chen in slow motion. 🔥 #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/hQ0gYASTky

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 4, 2022

There were nine skaters competing in the men's short program. Here's a full rundown of the scores along with a deeper look at the action.

---

Final Scores

1. Nathan Chen, USA - 111.71

2. Shoma Uno, Japan - 105.46.

3. Mark Kondratiuk, ROC - 95.81

4. Morisi Kvitelashvili, Georgia - 92.37

5. Daniel Grassl, Italy - 88.10

6. Jin Boyang, China - 82.87

7. Michal Brezina, Czech Republic - 76.77

8. Roman Sadovsky, Canada - 71.06

9. Paul Fentz, Germany - 68.64

---

The reigning and three-time world champion Chen was looking to improve on his fourth-place finish at the event in the 2018 Winter Games and he did just that. He started off his Olympics with a breathtaking run to record his best-ever score in this event.

Welcome to the 2022 #WinterOlympics, Nathan Chen. https://t.co/Vob07orLwf

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 4, 2022

It was the second-highest men's short program score ever behind only Yuzuru Hanyu's 111.82 in 2020.

Chen is still chasing his first Olympics gold medal. If he continues skating like this going forward, he could achieve the one thing that has eluded him throughout his storied career.

Japan's Shoma Uno was the first skater to earn a score above 100, placing second with 105.46. Mark Kondratiuk of the Russian Olympic Committee took third with 95.81.

Canada's Roman Sadovsky scored 71.06 to finish in eighth place. Canada placed first in the 2018 team event and has some work to do if it hopes make it to the free skate to defend its title.

It was only the first day of the women's hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics, but longtime rivals Canada and the United States already appeared on another gold-medal collision course.

The Canadians were downright dominant in a 12-1 win over Switzerland, while the Americans took care of business against a medal contender in Finland 5-2.

Japan and the Czech Republic were the other winners from Thursday's action in Beijing.

---

Thursday's Results

Czech Republic 3, China 1

Canada 12, Switzerland 1

Japan 3, Sweden 1

United States 5, Finland 2

---

Day 1 Recap

Perhaps what's most impressive about Canada's rout of Switzerland is that it racked up a dozen goals without Marie-Philip Poulin, arguably the top women's player, finding the net and recording just a single assist. It's a testament to the team's depth.

Four players scored at least two goals (Sarah Fillier, Natalie Spooner, Blayre Turnbull and Laura Stacey) and a trio of skaters picked up at least three assists (Spooner, Claire Thompson and Rebecca Johnston) as Canada opened the scoring after just a minute and never looked back.

.@TeamCanada scores the first goal of the 2022 #WinterOlympics. 🚨

📺 @USA_Network and @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/LYPBNhpWXj

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 3, 2022

The Canadians finished the game with an eye-popping 70 shots on goal.

After a hard-fought opening 10 minutes, the United States was able to seize control of its opener with a pair of goals less than three minutes apart by Amanda Kessel and Alex Carpenter.

Team USA strikes first!#WinterOlympics | 📺: @USA_Network and @peacockTV https://t.co/RR2cxaSO7G

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 3, 2022

Team USA put the game out of reach with a strong second period when it outshot the Finns 19-2. Kendall Coyne Schofield scored both goals in the frame to increase the lead to 4-0.

Carpenter added her second of the day for the U.S. in the third, while Susanna Tapani scored twice for Finland on the power play.

One key question coming out of the contest is the health of Brianna Decker, who was stretchered off the ice in the first period after getting hit from behind. She didn't return to the contest.

Several screams from star U.S. forward Brianna Decker as she got clipped from behind less than 10 minutes into her Olympics. Alert as she's taken off ice. (Getty) https://t.co/mm6xN7pveo

— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) February 3, 2022

China, as the host nation, is taking part in the women's hockey tournament for the first time since 2010. It received a strong performance from goalie Chen Tiya, who made 33 saves, to remain competitive against a Czech side with a shot at the podium.

Tereza Radova, Denisa Krizova and Michaela Pejzlova were the goal scorers for the Czech Republic. Mi Le netted the only goal for the hosts.

Japan provided the only upset of the day with its triumph over Sweden.

Shiori Koike opened the scoring late in the first period for the Japanese, who have never finished better than sixth in the Olympics. After Maja Nylen-Persson tied the game for the Swedes, Rui Ukita put Japan ahead for good. Haruna Yoneyama added an empty-netter to seal the win.

She wanted it. She got it. She scored.

Japan gets the icebreaker late in the first period thanks to Shiori Koike! #WinterOlympics

Watch on @PeacockTV: https://t.co/xkg6WWipIP pic.twitter.com/NhLj1OLa8W

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 3, 2022

Play in the women's hockey tournament continues with a pair of games Friday: the Russian Olympic Committee vs. Switzerland and Denmark vs. China.

The United States women's hockey team got off to a winning start at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Thursday, beating Finland 5-2 in a preliminary-round game in Beijing.

Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield and Alex Carpenter scored twice for Team USA in the victory, while Amanda Kessel found the back of the net as well.

After watching rival Canada rout Switzerland 12-1 in its first game of the tournament earlier that day, the Americans answered with a one-sided win of their own against a traditionally tough Finland team.

While the United States is the reigning gold medalist in women's Olympic hockey, Finland won bronze four years ago in Pyeongchang and has played for a medal in all but one of the six occasions that women's hockey has been contested at the Olympics.

Finland also won a silver medal at the 2019 world championships and bronze at the 2021 world championships, but it looked overmatched Thursday.

Team USA got the scoring started just past the midway point of the first period when Kessel took matters into her own hands by driving to the front of the net and beating Finnish goaltender Anni Keisala:

Team USA strikes first!#WinterOlympics | 📺: @USA_Network and @peacockTV https://t.co/RR2cxaSO7G

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 3, 2022

Kessel, the younger sister of longtime NHL forward Phil Kessel, is in search of her third career Olympic medal and her second gold.

The United States made it 2-0 before the first period was over, as Carpenter recorded a power-play goal off a beautiful cross-ice pass from Kelly Pannek:

It's a power play goal as @usahockey extends the lead over Finland! #WInterOlympics

📺: @USA_Network and @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/YWL2xT88Ag

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 3, 2022

After winning a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Carpenter was left off the 2018 Olympic team, but the Massachusetts native persevered and was selected this time around.

The speedy and crafty Coyne Schofield took over during the second period and doubled the Team USA lead to 4-0 with a pair of goals in 64-second span.

The forward roared down the wing and beat Keisala with a wicked wrister to extend the Americans' lead to 3-0:

THE CAPTAIN!@KendallCoyne adds another to the @TeamUSA lead.

📺: @USA_Network and @peacockTV
💻: https://t.co/HkrNM70DNd pic.twitter.com/fkFEay79VI

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 3, 2022

Coyne Schofield then deflected a Savannah Harmon shot into the net to make it 4-0.

The Americans were dominant in the second period, and as pointed out by LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, the Finns generated almost no scoring opportunities:

Team USA outshot Finland 19-2 in the second period and take a 4-0 lead into intermission.

— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) February 3, 2022

Finland finally got on the board and broke up goaltender Maddie Rooney's shutout just over three minutes into the third period on a power-play goal from Susanna Tapani.

The Americans answered just about five minutes later, though, when Carpenter scored for the second time in the game, making good on a quality pass from Abby Roque to restore a four-goal advantage:

Another one for @usahockey! 🖐

📺: @USA_Network and @peacockTV

💻: https://t.co/HkrNM7ieEL https://t.co/6qQmj1Brdc

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 3, 2022

It appeared as though the game would end with a 5-1 score, but a review took place after the final horn sounded, and it was determined that a shot by Tapani with 2:20 left went off the post and in, so the final 140 seconds had to be replayed.

Little changed, though, aside from the Americans winning 5-2 rather than 5-1.

Overall, the United States took the play to Finland, outshooting the Finns 52-12 and winning 66 percent of the faceoffs.

There was one negative for Team USA out of the contest in the form of an injury to a key player.

Forward Brianna Decker, who was playing in her third consecutive Olympics, suffered an apparent leg injury midway through the first period and had to be stretchered off the ice.

Chris Peters of Daily Faceoff explained how big of a loss Decker could potentially be:

Broadcast just replayed the injury to Brianna Decker from a different angle. Pretty terrible. That's going to be a huge loss for this team that lost several key pieces of its core to retirement before this Olympics. Decker is one of the absolute greats of recent USWNT history.

— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) February 3, 2022

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski later reported that Decker was seen on crutches and with her left leg in a walking boot after the game. USA Hockey also confirmed that Decker will miss the remainder of the Olympics.

Decker has been one of Team USA's top forwards for over a decade with 170 points in 146 career games for the national team, so replacing her production will be a huge challenge.

Still, the Americans played at a high level without Decker for most of Thursday's game, and there is no question that they are still the gold medal co-favorite along with Canada.

The United States and Canada have played for Olympic gold five out of six times, and they appear to be on a collision course again in Beijing.

Team USA will look to improve to 2-0 in Group A preliminary-round play Saturday when it faces the Russian Olympic Committee.

The action is underway at the 2022 Winter Olympics, but things won't pick up in earnest until after Friday's opening ceremony.

Known as the official start of the Games, the opening ceremony brings together all the competing nations for an exciting event that features music, dancing, fireworks and more. This year's ceremony is being held at Beijing National Stadium, which was also the site of the opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Each participating country could choose up to two athletes (one man and one woman) to be its flag-bearers. Their teammates will follow them for the parade of nations, which is held at the start of every Olympics.

Here's everything else you need to know for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

                  

Opening Ceremony Information

Date: Friday, Feb. 4

Start Time: 6:30 a.m. ET

TV: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Sports app, NBCOlympics.com and Peacock

             

Announced Flag-Bearers

Albania: Denni Xhepa (Alpine skiing)

Andorra: Maeva Estevez (snowboarding)

Argentina: Francesca Baruzzi (Alpine skiing) and Franco Dal Farra (cross-country skiing)

Australia: Laura Peel (freestyle skiing) and Brendan Kerry (figure skating)

Azerbaijan: Vladimir Litvintsev (figure skating)

Belgium: Loena Hendrickx (figure skating) and Armand Marchant (Alpine skiing)

Bulgaria: Maria Zdravkova (biathlon) and Radoslav Yankov (snowboarding)

Canada: Marie-Philip Poulin (ice hockey) and Charles Hamelin (short track speedskating)

China: Zhao Dan (skeleton) and Gao Tingyu (speedskating)

Denmark: Madeleine Dupont (curling) and Frans Nielsen (ice hockey)

Ecuador: Sarah Escobar (Alpine skiing)

Estonia: Kelly Sildaru (freestyle skiing) and Martin Himma (cross-country skiing)

France: Tessa Worley (Alpine skiing) and Kevin Rolland (freestyle skiing)

Georgia: Nino Tsiklauri (Alpine skiing) and Morisi Kvitelashvili (figure skating)

Ghana: Carlos Mader (Alpine skiing)

Hungary: Zita Toth (Alpine skiing) and Marton Kekesi (Alpine skiing)

Iran: Atefeh Ahmadi (Alpine skiing) and Sattar Seid (cross-country skiing)

Ireland: Elsa Desmond (luge) and Brendan Newby (freestyle skiing)

Italy: Michela Moioli (snowboarding)

Japan: Arisa Go (speed skating) and Akito Watabe (nordic combined)

Kazakhstan: Yekaterina Aidova (speedskating) and Abzal Azhgaliyev (short track speedskating)

Latvia: Eliza Tiruma (luge) and Lauris Darziņs (ice hockey)

Malaysia: Jeffrey Webb (Alpine skiing)

Malta: Jenise Spiteri (snowboarding)

Mexico: Sarah Schleper (Alpine skiing) and Donovan Carrillo (figure skating)

Moldova: Doina Descalui (luge)

Monaco: Arnaud Alessandria (Alpine skiing)

Netherlands: Lindsay van Zundert (figure skating) and Kjeld Nuis (speed skating)

North Macedonia: Ana Cvetanovska (cross-country skiing) and Dardan Dehari (Alpine skiing)

Philippines: Asa Miller (Alpine skiing)

Poland: Aleksandra Krol (snowboarding) and Zbigniew Brodka (speed skating)

Puerto Rico: Kellie Delka (skeleton) and William Flaherty (Alpine skiing)

Romania: Raluca Stramaturaru (luge) and Paul Pepene (cross-country skiing)

Slovenia: Ilka Stuhec (Alpine skiing) and Zan Kosir (snowboarding)

South Korea: Kim Min-sun (speed skating) and Kwak Yoon-gy (short track speed skating)

Spain: Queralt Castellet (snowboarding) and Ander Mirambell (skeleton)

United States: Brittany Bowe (speed skating) and John Shuster (curling)

            

Preview

This year's opening ceremony in Beijing may have a similar feel to the one that opened the 2008 Summer Olympics in China's capital city. However, it's going to be on a smaller scale.

Zhang Yimou, a Chinese film director, orchestrated the 2008 opening ceremony, which featured 15,000 performers. In 2022, he will again be in charge, but this time, there will only be 3,000 performers during the 100-minute show, according to Chan Kin-wa of the South China Morning Post.

Not only will the group of performers be smaller, but they will also be younger. Yanis Varoufakis of MNA International noted that 95 percent of the performers will be teenagers.

The show will "illustrate three major themes of world peace," per Chan Kin-wa, as the official slogan of this year's Winter Olympics is "together for a shared future."

Just like the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the coronavirus pandemic will have an impact on the opening ceremony. Only select spectators will be allowed to attend, none of whom will be from outside of China. That will also be the case for events throughout the Winter Games.

On Wednesday, the United States announced that speedskater Brittany Bowe and curler John Shuster will represent the nation as the flag-bearers at the opening ceremony. Bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was originally supposed to join Shuster in leading the way for Team USA, but she tested positive for COVID-19.

It's always a special honor to be a flag-bearer for the host nation, and this year, Zhao Dan (skeleton) and Gao Tingyu (speed skating) will get that opportunity for China. This is the first time that the Winter Olympics have taken place in the country.

Once the Winter Olympics are complete, athletes will return to Beijing National Stadium for the closing ceremony, which is set for Feb. 20.