The big questions for the Beijing Games

With a cast of around 3,000 athletes representing 90 nations, there are certain to be an abundance of stories when the Beijing Games begin this week.

Before the action has even started, though, there are numerous questions hanging over the Winter Olympics.

How might Covid affect the Beijing Games?

Whether they are an inevitable consequence of an influx of arrivals, confirmation of the fears that had led some to call for a rethink on the Games or both, the latest figures from Beijing have undoubtedly shown a rise in local cases – the highest total for 18 months has been reported in the week ahead of the start of the Olympics.

There are said to be 54 new cases across China, including 13 athletes or Games personnel tested at the airport, and officials have responded by introducing lockdowns in some hotspots and announcing that two million people will be tested.

Games organizers are keeping athletes in a 'closed-loop' bubble in a bid to minimize infections, with everyone expected to wear masks and isolate if they test positive until they have passed two negative tests within 24 hours. Athletes are surely praying that they will not have traveled to China – requiring chartered flights amid tight restrictions – only to test positive and have to sit out the events they have trained so hard for.

Numerous hopefuls have endured chaos to their travel plans or had to abandon their hopes of competing entirely as a result of positive tests. The International Olympic Committee said in January that it had adapted its protocols to give competitors who were facing test-related delays the best chance of taking part.

Will the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics have an effect?

The VIP section at the opening ceremony looks likely to be noticeably spacious this year as a result of a variety of countries announcing a diplomatic boycott of the Games – largely as a result of alleged human rights injustices by China inflicted upon Uyghur Muslims in the north-west of the country.

President Joe Biden's US administration is the most notable country to call off any plans it held to send delegates to Beijing, although one of the key questions during the long-running controversy has been whether the absence of officials from powerful countries will have any effect.

Even though the French National Assembly adopted a resolution in January denouncing a 'genocide' of the Uyghurs, Emmanuel Macron, the country's president, has called the boycotts "insignificant". His Sports Minister, Roxana Maracineanu, will attend the Games, albeit not the opening ceremony.

Macron's remark summarized the views of those who argue that there are alterior motives behind the boycotts, which they say have more to do with grandstanding and existing tensions between China and some countries.

There are certain to be many more arguments in the media and on social media around the boycotts and China's human rights record.

When will Vladimir Putin arrive at the Beijing Games?

One leader who has called the boycotts a mistake is Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who announced in December 2021 that he intended to not only attend the Games, but be at the opening ceremony.

While China has tended to be quick to insist that the countries performing the boycott were not invited regardless, Putin is very welcome – president Xi Jinping has called him a friend, and Putin's invite from his Chinese counterpart means that he can attend as part of the terms of a World Anti-Doping Agency ruling which only allows Russian delegates to be at major sporting events under specific circumstances.

Assuming there are no hitches at a time when the pandemic has made traveling to China difficult, that could mean Putin will take in the first festivities at the National Stadium on February 4.

Putin has suggested that his trip to the Games will be more than a flying visit, explaining that he expects to hold a meeting with Xi.

Could the 2022 Winter Olympics be the last time Russia competes neutrally?

Fans continue to be confused by a curious sight at major sporting events: Russian athletes competing under a neutral flag and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) banner, with Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 playing instead of the Russian anthem at medal ceremonies.

The ban, imposed by WADA in 2019 and later reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is set to last until December 2022, making this the last Olympics before the Russian flag is seen again.

Athletes, fans and politicians have been pained by the punishment. This week, 2002 Olympic figure skating champion Alexei Yagudin summed up the spine-tingling sensation when the flag goes up and the anthem is played in a lament to the moment Russian medal-winners will miss out on again.

Earlier in January, British Olympic legend Sebastian Coe, the President of World Athletics, said the All-Russian Athletics Federation, which is currently suspended by the Council of the International Association of Athletics Federations, will "return to the international arena" once a recovery plan is fully implemented.

Which countries are targeting the most golds at the Winter Olympics?

It would represent a significant feat if Germany repeated its matching of Norway's number of golds at the 2018 edition, when both countries provided 14 winners.

Norway continues to be a hotbed of winter sports, nurturing outstanding athletes from an early age, many of whom have gone on to contribute to the country's particular stranglehold on cross-country skiing.

Russian athletes are expected to fare better than they did in coming 13th in the overall medal table in 2018, when their squad was depleted at late notice by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which disapproved dozens of its top contenders – including clear gold-medal candidates – for questionable doping offenses.

Some are predicting that the ROC will oust Germany from second place, which will probably require a significant improvement on its two gold medals four years ago.

Team USA, who count the likes of reigning giant slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin among their ranks, are expected to feature at the top end of the standings again, as are Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Are there really fears that China will use the Beijing Games for spying?

In December, reports suggested that China would drop its longstanding censorship of western sites and platforms such as Google and Facebook as part of contractual obligations to athletes that would also see them provided with SIM cards.

Questions over restrictions have now given way to much more serious concerns over data, with cybersecurity experts releasing a report just weeks before the start of the Games identifying a "devastating flaw" in the event app, MY2022, through which personnel are obliged to log their Covid vaccination status and coronavirus lab test result, among other sensitive information.

The report also suggested that information collected in the app could be handed over to authorities without user consent. That has reportedly led to huge numbers of athletes, including members of Team GB and Team USA, being told to take 'burner' devices to the Games, while the Dutch team has supplied its stars with temporary phones and laptops.

Investigators Citizenlab said that suspicions of censorship and surveillance by Chinese apps are "to a large extent warranted", but added that the security shortcomings were more likely to be a result of "differing priorities" for Chinese software developers than a "vast government conspiracy".