The 2022 Beijing Olympics are set to start Friday, February 4th. Around 2900 athletes will compete this year. There will be 109 sports with seven new events including: womens monobob, men and women's big air skiing, mixed team relay in short track speed skating, mixed team ski jumping, mixed team snowboard cross, and freestyle skiing mixed team aerials.
The IOC, International Olympic Commitee, has already contribued approximately $880 million to support the winter games.
In light of the pandemic, there will be several countermeasures to prevent the risks of COVID-19. These rules have been built on top of the playbook established during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. However, players will have more than the pandemic to worry about this winter.
As of Monday, the FBI issued an advisory for all athletes to bring a burner phone as a preventative measure against cyber attacks. Though there is no specific threat, the FBI wants athletes to take counter measures to prevent ransomware, malware, and data theft among other possible attacks.
Athletes are required to download an app in order to keep track of their health 14 days prior to departure and throughout their stay. However, the FBI has stated that the app could be a pose a risk and can be used by hackers to install trackers or personal information. The IOC responded to the controversy and conducted its own research with an independent third party. They released a statement saying, "These reports confirmed that there are no critical vulnerabilities."
However, as of Monday, FBI Director Christopher Wray has also stated in a speech, "... there's just no country that presents a broader threat to our ideas, innovation, and economic security than China." The Chinese government has denied these allegations.
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