How to watch the 2022 Olympic Winter Games
With the ever expanding media landscape, watching the 2022 Olympics and cheering on Team Canada will be different than in past (remember TVs? So 2015). But we've got you covered, with this primer on how to watch, who to watch and some other cool facts and info about the upcoming Winter Games.
Even for cord-cutters, there are loads of options for tuning into the Games in Canada. Canada’s national broadcaster CBC TV and its free streaming service CBC Gem is serving up 3500 hours of Olympics coverage. That includes some of its broadcast partners, TSN, RDS and Sportsnet providing live event coverage, podium moments, interviews and more.
You can also download the CBC sports app, available for IoS and Android. American network NBCUniversal will have live coverage of the Games, too. NBC also has an app called Peacock which will carry Games coverage.
Opening & Closing Ceremonies
The opening ceremonies will happen on the evening of Friday, Feb. 4 at the Beijing National Stadium. That means western Canadians can watch the show in the morning. Beijing is 15 hours ahead of Mountain Time and 16 hours ahead of Pacific Time.
The closing ceremony will happen on Sunday, Feb. 20.
What’s new in winter sports for 2022
Monobob: Making its debut at these Games, the Monobob is an all-women’s sport with a single person bobsled competition on a one-minute and 10-second track. Says de Bruin: “What’s nice is competitors all have the same sled.” It’s all about “how hard you push and how well you drive,” on a course that has a few more tight corners than the team bobsled event.
STAY STOKED ON WINTER WITH SNOWSEEKERS ENEWS.
Ski jumping (team): This is considered a new competition for 2022, because it’s a team of three, with at least one of each gender, vying for the most points. It’s always thrilling to watching these daring hotdoggers get some massive air.
Here are five more new sports to watch:
- Freestyle skiing: Men’s big air
- Freestyle skiing: Women’s big air
- Short-track speedskating: Mixed team relay
- Ski jumping: Mixed team event
- Snowboarding: Mixed team snowboard cross
Who to watch from Team Canada
Here are some names to watch as you’re rooting for Team Canada.
Christine de Bruin & Cynthia Appiah, bobsledding and monobob – Hot off their first- and second-place wins respectively at the international bobsled event in Altenberg, Germany, this pair is looking pretty positive.
Elena Gaskell, freestyle skier – This will be the first Olympics for the Vernon, B.C., resident. She won the big air event in 2018 and in 2021 grabbed a bronze at the World Cup.
Erik Read, alpine skier – Eric comes genetically predisposed to skiing as the son of Crazy Canuck Ken Read, himself a three-time Olympian. Erik was the top-ranked Canadian in the giant slalom, finishing 11th during the 2018 PyeongChang Games.
READ MORE ABOUT CHRISTINE DE BRUIN'S AND ERIK READ'S OLYMPIC JOURNEYS IN THIS SNOWSEEKERS FEATURE.
Kris Mahler, ski cross – Things are looking good for Mahler, a Canmore athlete who scooped a gold medal in ski cross at the World Cup even in Nakiska on Jan. 15.
Tristan Walker, luge – With a long list of medals on the World Cup circuit and two firsts in competitions in the 2020/21 years, Walker and his partner, Justin Snith, are considered favourites to medal in the doubles luge.
Reece Howden, ski cross – During the 2020/21 season, Howden has clinched back-to-back gold medals in competitions and winning the coveted Crystal Globe in February 2021.
Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier, figure skating – The pair from Quebec, recently racked up a bronze at the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships. This will be their second Olympics.
Check out this Olympic.ca lineup of Canadian medal hopefuls.
When to watch Team Canada
Check out Olympic.ca to find out when your favourite sport or athletes will be competing. You can filter by sport and/or athlete.
GET MORE WINTER ACTION WITH SNOWSEEKERS ENEWS.
Fun facts for the 2022 Olympics
- Winter Olympic sports are biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, hockey, luge, skating and skiing. Canada will be represented by 103 athletes, 53 men and 50 women in all seven sports.
- If you’re a ‘Cool Runnings’ fan, you’ll want to know that for the first time in 24 years, Jamaica will have a four-man bobsledding team, a two-man team, and a competitor in the new sport of monobob.
- The 2022 mascot’s name is Bing Dwen Dwen, an oversized panda with an ice shell. In Chinese, Bing means ice/strength purity and Dwen Dwen means robust/lively.
- Beijing is the first city ever to host both the Winter and Summer Games (2008).
- Because this part of China does not receive much snow, all of it will be artificial.
- These Games will have the largest number of women – 1,314.
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