Had it been up to him, Latvia’s luge coach Martins Rubenis would have preferred to never make the trip to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Indeed, he didn’t know if he would even be allowed into China until the very last moment. A two-time Olympic bronze medalist, Rubenis was already known to the Latvian Chinese…

BEIJING—The Kremlin on Friday responded to comments by the Olympic chief, in which he said he was “disturbed” watching Russian teen skater Kamila Valieva crumble under pressure and hit out at the 15-year-old’s coach for her “chilling” reaction. In a press conference earlier on Friday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said he had…

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach issued a rare rebuke to Beijing organizers over comments about Taiwan and Xinjiang, as scrutiny of the Chinese regime’s abuses continues to simmer in the backdrop of the Winter Games. Beijing needs to “remain politically neutral,” said Bach at a press conference on Feb. 18, a day after…

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach issued a rare rebuke to Beijing organizers over comments about Taiwan and Xinjiang, as scrutiny of the Chinese regime’s abuses continues to simmer in the backdrop of the Winter Games. Beijing needs to “remain politically neutral,” said Bach at a press conference on Feb. 18, a day after…

Starbucks is in trouble. An employee allegedly kicked out a group of policemen. Chinese netizens are using the chance to defend their country, and the Chinese state media is weighing in. Is it time for us to reflect on the decision to let China host the Winter Games? With the horrible human rights abuses in…

Two-time Olympic bronze medalist and current coach of the Latvian men’s luge team Martins Rubenis expressed candidly to Latvian media his disdain over the Chinese regime hosting the 2022 Games—just hours after his team competed at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, Feb. 7. As Chinese soldiers stood guard to his right, in an interview with Latvia’s national…

Two-time Olympic bronze medalist and current coach of the Latvian men’s luge team Martins Rubenis expressed candidly to Latvian media his disdain over the Chinese regime hosting the 2022 Games—just hours after his team competed at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, Feb. 7. As Chinese soldiers stood guard to his right, in an interview with Latvia’s national…

We explore how a sporting event explodes into geopolitics. The tension between China and South Korea is reaching a tipping point. At the dawn of the Korean presidential election, the anti-Chinese Communist Party sentiment was at an all-time high. We explore how that is impacting the U.S.-China relationship, and where South Korea places itself. And…

BEIJING—Hilary Knight could think of no better way to close the Beijing Games women’s hockey tournament than a rematch between the United States and—who else?—Canada with the gold medal on the line. During an Olympic tournament criticized for lacking parity because of too many lopsided scores—and big on predictability with the United States and Canada…

More than a week into the Beijing Winter Olympics, which opened on Feb. 4, a range of controversies from referees’ decisions to China’s harsh COVID controls have drawn complaints from competitors and international observers. Amid a diplomatic boycott of the Games by Western countries, led by the United States over Beijing’s human rights abuses, the…