North County Sends 3 Athletes To Beijing For 2022 Winter Olympics

OCEANSIDE, CA — With COVID-19 protocols restricting spectators to a select few in the 2022 Beijing Olympics starting Friday, the only way to cheer on three Winter Olympics athletes with ties to San Diego County is from home.

San Diego area athletes will be there in full Ralph Lauren-designed gear, waving the red, white and blue while we cheer from home during opening ceremonies today.

Athletes with ties to the San Diego area who are representing the United States in the Feb. 4-20 XXIV Olympiad are:

• Tessa Maud, Event: Snowboarding, Women's Snowboard Halfpipe.
• Shaun White, Event: Snowboarding, Men's Snowboard Halfpipe.
• Kaillie Humphries, Event: Bobsled, Women's Monobob, 2-woman.

All three athletes are from Carlsbad.

While she no longer lives here, three-time Olympic bobsled medalist Elana Meyers Taylor was born in Oceanside. Meyers Taylor, a medalist for the U.S. at the last three Winter Olympics, wrote in a first-person TeamUSA.org story that a coach from another country “was recorded saying several racist statements” and that her name “was drug through the mud.” Bejing will be the fourth Winter Games competition for her.

The Beijing Games are the second Olympics competition to be held during the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics were delayed until 2021, and athletes in Beijing will face similarly rigid protocols, as COVID-19 numbers remain high around the world.

Olympic organizers in mid-January suspended ticket sales to the general public, saying that selected groups of spectators would be invited on-site. International spectators cannot attend.

How To Watch The Olympics

NBCUniversal is the main broadcast partner and will offer 2022 Beijing Olympics programming across its cable, broadcast and digital platforms, including NBC, USA, CNBC and the Olympic Channel.

But what if you've cut the cord on cable? People with basic cable packages that include access to NBC can watch livestream coverage with the NBC Sports app.
Here are some other options:

• SlingTV's Blue Plan includes access to channels broadcasting live Olympic coverage.
• Sling is offering a free trial of its Blue Plan, which includes access to channels broadcasting live Olympics coverage.
• fuboTV offers Olympic livestreams;
• Hulu + Live TV gives you access on TVs, tablets, laptops and other devices.
• NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock, offers livestreaming via laptops, smartphones and smart TVs.

The Olympic athletes face a number of hurdles under a COVID-19 safety plan that includes daily testing of both athletes and workers. A positive test could sideline athletes, even if they're no longer contagious, but Olympic organizers say the plan is flexible and allows for a case-by-case review on the need for isolation.

See more Winter Olympics coverage on Patch.