Athletes and sports officials around the world have for months been viewing the approaching Winter Olympics in Beijing, set to take place in February amid a still-raging pandemic, with a mixture of apprehension and weariness. Now, a global surge of cases tied to the highly contagious Omicron variant has given them all the more reason to be on edge.
A single positive test before the opening ceremony on Feb. 4, after all, could derail an athlete’s entire career. An outbreak in China could still derail the entire Games.
“With the new variant being out and about, it’s definitely a little scary,” said Karen Chen, an American figure skater.