Accept everything for the Olympic dream

Probably took a wrong turn. This must have happened somewhere in the air while watching a film helped pass the time on the flight to Beijing. Because how else can you explain that everything is so unreal after landing? Is it still Earth? In the terminal, which was probably reserved especially for us, only almost computer-controlled figures in white space suits walk around. Passport control, baggage inspection. PCR test. Narrow eyes make it somewhat clear that flesh and blood people are probably doing their work behind them. This primarily involves filtering out viruses in us. And alas, the result is positive. Then goodbye beautiful Olympic world. Fear is now a constant companion. Not that of a dent in your shape or another kind of ailment. It's the pure, naked, constant sweat-producing fear of a positive corona test.

After all, despite the bubble, there are already over 100 cases. Positive cases. And there are more every day. But this process also comes to an end and please: What are you not doing for the Olympic Games. We would even accept green men, flown in directly from Mars, because there is nothing bigger than the fight for an Olympic medal. To achieve this, the male and female athletes are making all the sacrifices they can make to make their dreams come true and to make us happy at home in our dressing gowns (many competitions take place at night due to the time difference). And honestly: We are happy to stand up for an event that, despite all the concerns, rises far above all other events. We want to be taken along on the Olympic journey at Eurosport and of course we hope for golden moments, for electrifying moments, for unforgettable performances that take our breath away. And we definitely won't be disappointed when the graces of this world make their appearance in figure skating. Valieva seduces you to dream There is a 16-year-old Russian girl from Moscow. Kamila Valieva doesn't just skate across the ice. No, she's in a state of limbo for four and a half minutes. Interrupted only by a few jumps with, of course, four times the rotation around the longitudinal axis of the body. All of them extremely difficult, which with incredible grace transfer your program to a new, never-before-seen level. I have seen them at the European Championships and Grand Prix competitions. She could easily keep up with her score among men, and even win there. And the games wouldn't be complete without an ice princess. Carolina Kostner always showed us this in an impressive way. But you never know. The tension remains here until the last pirouette. The Russian, of course, has all the potential to become one of the big stars in this parade of the world's best athletes. An oldie in the halfpipe Others have been there for a long time and are still not tired. Their hunger for medals is almost insatiable. Ask Shaun White, the snowboarding legend who is a real insatiable person. He has already won three gold medals in the halfpipe. With an estimated net worth of more than $50 million, he is guaranteed to be the richest Olympian in Beijing and yet, with unchanged enthusiasm, he obediently joins the starting field, which consists mainly of adolescent adults. “Hello Grandpa, are you lost?” they could all say to the now 35-year-old oldie. But his appearance gives the scene a magical component. With his participation, Shaun White shows that the Olympic Games are still the ultimate, even in a sport in which those active have the freedom of being written on their shoulders and yet still have to work within the narrow confines of a sports organization for a possible medal let squeeze. This is the Olympics. Irrevocable.

Shaun White is the secret Olympic star. © APA/getty / SEAN M. HAFFEY

Because in a season like this with the games in Beijing, everyone knows that a failure in China would make previous successes in the World Cup or afterwards a waste of time. Every training session was geared towards this highlight of the season. Some people have simply skipped a few races beforehand because they simply didn't want to take any risks. Everyone saw how quickly something can happen with Sofia Goggia, who dominated almost all of the downhill runs this season and then crashed in her home race in Cortina d'Ampezzo. She was lucky because her speed races are relatively late in the program. There's still some time left to recover. However, she cannot now carry the Italian flag into the bird's nest at the opening ceremony as planned. This honor was given in her place to PyeongChang 2018 Olympic snowboard cross champion Michela Moioli. Just fake snow for the lovebirds Even if there is not a single, beautiful and well-shaped natural snowflake to be found on the ski slopes and snowboard courses and everything has only been covered in a not very inviting white coat thanks to snow cannons, the Alpine competitions are certainly in focus again. A couple in love will mainly concern the tabloid newspapers. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde from Norway are the dream couple in the snow circus. However, successes are not more or less fixed, as is the case with our Russian ice star. Above all, there is great uncertainty about the day's form and the knowledge that the competition has not come to generously hand over the medals to the skiing aces so that they can then possibly even have them made into bridal rings. Dominik Paris will steer against it on the descent and Petra Vlhova´ from Slovakia can sweep through the slalom gates just as well as Shiffrin.

Mikaela Shiffrin and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde are the dream couple in the ski circus. © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / NOAM GALAI

The US ski star plans to take part in all competitions. A large and committed project. And if Goggia no longer gets fit (fingers crossed please), Federica Brignone or the Delago sisters from Val Gardena would be available. Who knows? It will definitely be cold. Temperatures are expected to go down to minus 20 degrees. The biathlon troop in particular must exercise caution so that the index finger, which normally triggers the shot in the small-caliber rifle, is not damaged. The motto is to wrap up warm. Unfortunately, an FFP-2 mask is not enough and Italy ultimately has a bronze medal to defend in the mixed relay with Dorothea Wierer, Lisa Vittozzi, Dominik Windisch and Lukas Hofer. This is the ski hunters' first competition this year as part of the games next Saturday morning. I look forward to it. In addition to figure skating, the opening and closing ceremonies, I also comment on biathlon at Eurosport. It's a shame that natural track tobogganing isn't an Olympic event. Secure medals for Italy would probably have been possible thanks to South Tyrolean quality and everything would have been cheaper. The new ice channel in front of Beijing cost a mere 1,2 billion US dollars. Unique in every respect. An American for China And the hosts? They have to bend so that every tendon will probably hurt for years afterwards and the muscles will burn like fire. Because the best known, most famous and most promising Chinese woman is an American. No joke. 18-year-old Eileen Gu, who competes in halfpipe and slopestyle, learned to ski in Lake Tahoe, works part-time as a model and studies at the elite Stanford University. Her dad is American, her mom is Chinese. She has mastered the Double Cork 1440. These are two somersaults with four turns. Gu is the first and only athlete to master this jump and is therefore clearly a medal contender. “No one can deny that I am American and no one can deny that I am Chinese,” she says confidently. She has 23 million followers on the Chinese internet platform “Weibo”. 23 million. Craziness. China's official policy actually prohibits two different citizenships. The fact that an athlete has a Chinese and an American passport and competes for China is an almost conciliatory situation in this world of mutual mistrust and constant tensions between the two countries. Eileen Gu is a link between two such mutual worlds. So it's okay... Olympia makes it possible.

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Accept everything for the Olympic dream

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