Winter Olympics: medal events, how to watch and everything we know about the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Jordan Stolz
Jordan Stolz of Team United States skates during a speed skating practice session ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. (Image credit: Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Fans of the Olympic games were in luck this year — they had just seven months to wait between the Summer and Winter Olympics rather than the usual two years. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will get underway this February a few months after the delayed Summer Olympics (Tokyo 2020, although they took place in August 2021).

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing will mark the first Winter Games hosted by China, but the second straight Winter Olympics for Asia — following the Games in Pyeongchang, 2018. Beijing has previously hosted the Summer Olympics, in 2008.

Sadly, as with the Tokyo Olympics, the ongoing pandemic means Beijing will be short on spectators. China has put a block on international fans and is also limiting the number of attendees from China as well as imposing a number of covid measures.

Still the gold standard for international sports competition, the Winter Olympics bring together must-watch athletes from across the world in a range of exciting sports including skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, figure skating, luge and much more across two weeks of non-stop action. 

With things officially underway in for the two-week event, here is everything you’ll need to know about the Winter Olympics 2022.

What to watch at the Beijing Winter Olympics

Medal Events

We're in the final days of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and here are all of the final medal events taking place between now and the closing ceremony.

  • Mixed Team Parallel, Alpine Skiing (Feb. 18 in U.S., Feb. 19 in U.K.)
  • Two-Woman Bobsled (Feb. 19)
  • Men's 50km Mass Start Free, Cross-Country Skiing (Feb. 19)
  • Sweden vs Great Britain gold medal game, Curling (Feb. 19)
  • Women's bronze medal game, Curling
  • Pair Skating, Figure Skating (Feb. 19)
  • Men's Freeski Halfpipe, Freestyle Skiing (Feb. 18 in U.S., Feb. 19 in U.K.)
  • Men's Ice Hockey bronze medal game (Feb. 19)
  • Men's Mass Start, Speed Skating (Feb. 19)
  • Women's Mass Start, Speed Skating (Feb. 19)
  • Four-Man Bobsled (Feb. 19 in U.S., Feb. 20 in U.K.)
  • Women's 30km Mass Start Free, Cross-Country Skiing (Feb. 20)
  • Women's gold medal game, Curling (Feb. 19 in U.S., Feb. 20 in U.K.)
  • Men's Ice Hockey gold medal game, Feb. 19 in U.S., Feb. 20 in U.K.)

How to watch the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in the U.S.

For U.S. audiences NBC will serve as the broadcast home for the Winter Olympics as it has since 1988. NBC’s daily coverage begins on Feb. 3. With the 13-hour time difference (between Beijing and the U.S. Eastern Time Zone), NBC will be providing live primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on its main network. The network will provide 2,800 hours of coverage across NBC, USA Network, CNBC, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app, as well as having all NBCUniversal coverage of the Winter Olympics available to stream live on the Peacock streaming service. For NBC’s full broadcast schedule, visit NBCOlympics.com.

With NBC handling Olympic’s coverage, U.S. cable/satellite pay-TV subscribers get to tune in at no additional cost, as all plans carry the NBC network. Similarly, anyone utilizing a TV antenna will have access to NBC, as all TV markets broadcast a local NBC station signal. 

However, when it comes to NBCUniversal-owned cable networks like USA Network and CNBC, you will need to check your pay-TV subscription to see if it includes those channels.

If you’re a Live TV streaming service subscriber that’s another option, as NBC is available on the likes of FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.

Peacock Premium is also streaming NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics — it requires a subscription, which is available for either $4.99 per month (with ads) or $9.99 per month (without ads).

In addition, NBC has announced that it has partnered with the Army & Air Force Exchange Service to provide U.S. service members and honorably discharged veterans across the world with the ability to stream the Olympics for free. Military/service members can stream all of the Winter Olympics on their personal devices and computers through ShopMyExchange.com.

How to watch the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in the U.K.

U.K. viewers will be able to watch the Winter Games on BBC and Eurosport, with the BBC announcing it will have more than 300 hours of live coverage across BBC One and BBC Two. Every live event will be available to watch on Eurosport and Discovery Plus but, with Beijing eight hours ahead of UK time, could mean some random scheduling. Find out more about the BBC’s broadcast schedule for the Winter Olympics on the BBC website

The BBC's Winter Olympics coverage is available for free on BBC One and BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, which will be live streaming selected events.

The BBC will cover selected events but, just as with the Tokyo games, it doesn’t have access to all of the Winter Games events. For complete access to all Winter Olympics coverage in the U.K., viewers need to subscribe to Discovery Plus, which costs £6.99 per month or £59.99 per year after a seven-day FREE trial. You can also watch via Eurosport by downloading the Eurosport app for iOS and Android.

How to watch the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Canada

Canada’s Winter Olympics broadcast home is CBC, with the network expected to provide more than 2,400 hours of live coverage throughout the games. Coverage will also be available via Sportsnet and TSN, as well as CBC Gem streaming service, the CBS Sports app and CBC’s dedicated Beijing 2022 website. The full schedule is available on CBC’s Olympics website.

CBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics is totally free via its website and apps. There is also the option to watch sign up for CBC’s standalone streaming service, CBC Gem, which costs CA$4.99 per month after a one-month free trial. 

How to watch the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Australia

In Australia Channel 7 will be the host for this year’s Winter Games on including the option to stream the action via the network’s 7Plus streaming service. Find out more about Channel 7’s Olympics coverage on its website

Channel 7 is free to local viewers, as is the network’s own streaming service, 7Plus. 

How to watch the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics from anywhere

A full list of all countries/regions broadcasting the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is available from the official Olympics website

If you are looking for a particular Olympics broadcast but are not in the country/region to view it, there is an option to see that coverage no matter where you are in the world.

A virtual private network (VPN) lets you get around the usual frustrating digital barriers by changing your IP address, meaning you can watch your favorite TV shows even if you're going to be away from home. 

Our favorite is ExpressVPN, which lets you change your IP address on whichever device you want to watch your new favorite show on.

From laptops to smart TVs, Amazon Fire Sticks, games consoles, and even mobile phones, you can change the address to make your device think it's in a different location to enable you to watch the things you love around the world. 

ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs out there. Not only because it is straightforward and easy to use, but it also has great security and, best of all, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

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All the Winter Olympics sports for Beijing 2022

There will be 15 different sports at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, with some of the sports offering multiple disciplines. Here is a complete rundown of the sports and disciplines:

Alpine Skiing

  • Men’s Alpine Combined Downhill
  •  Men’s Alpine Combined Slalom 
  •  Women’s Alpine Combined Downhill 
  •  Women’s Alpine Combined Slalom 
  •  Men’s Downhill 
  •  Women’s Downhill 
  •  Men’s Giant Slalom 
  •  Women’s Giant Slalom 
  •  Men’s Slalom 
  •  Women’s Slalom 
  •  Men’s Super-G 
  •  Women’s Super-G 
  •  Mixed Team Parallel 1/8 
  •  Mixed Team Parallel 1/4 
  •  Mixed Team Parallel 1/2 
  •  Mixed Team Parallel Small 
  •  Mixed Team Parallel Big 

Biathlon

  • Mixed Relay 4x6km 
  • Women’s 15km Individual 
  • Men’s 20km Individual 
  • Women’s 7.5km Sprint
  • Men’s 10km Sprint 
  • Women’s 10km Pursuit 
  • Men’s 12.5km Pursuit 
  • Men’s 4x7.5km Relay 
  • Women’s 4x6km Relay 
  • Men’s 15km Mass Start 
  • Women’s 12.5km Mass Start 

Bobsleigh

  • Women’s Monobob
  • Two-man 
  • Two-woman
  • Four-man

Cross-Country Skiing

  • Women’s 7.5km + 7.5km Skiathlon
  • Men’s 15km + 15km Skiathlon 
  • Women’s Sprint Free 
  • Men’s Sprint Free 
  • Women’s 10km Classic 
  • Men’s 15km Classic 
  • Women’s 4x5km Relay  
  • Men’s 4x10km Relay 
  • Women’s Team Sprint Classic 
  • Men’s Team Sprint Classic 
  • Men’s 50km Mass Start Free 
  • Women’s 30km Mass Start Free 

Curling

curling

(Image credit: USA Today Sports)
  • Mixed Doubles
  • Men's Curling
  • Women's Curling

Figure Skating

  • Men Single Skating - Short Program
  • Men Single Skating - Free Skating 
  • Ice Dance - Rhythm Dance 
  • Women Single Skating - Short Program 
  • Women Single Skating - Free Skating 
  • Pair Skating - Short Program 
  • Pair Skating - Free Skating 
  • Team Event 

Freestyle Skiing

  • Women’s Moguls
  • Men’s Moguls 
  • Women’s Freeski Big Air 
  • Men’s Freeski Big Air 
  • Mixed Team Aerials 
  • Women’s Freeski Slopestyle 
  • Women’s Aerials 
  • Men’s Freeski Slopestyle 
  • Men’s Aerials 
  • Women’s Freeski Halfpipe 
  • Women’s Ski Cross 
  • Men’s Freeski Halfpipe 
  • Men’s Ski Cross 

Ice Hockey

  • Men's
  • Women's

Luge

  • Men's Singles
  • Women's Singles
  • Doubles
  • Team Relay

Nordic Combined

  • Individual Gundersen Normal Hill/10km, Ski Jumping
  • Individual Gundersen Normal Hill/10km, Cross Country 
  • Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km, Ski Jumping 
  • Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km, Cross Country 
  • Team Gundersen Large Hill/4x5km, Ski Jumping 
  • Team Gundersen Large Hill/4x5km, Cross Country 

Short Track Speed Skating

short track speed skating

(Image credit: Olympics.com)
  • Women’s 500m
  • Men’s 1000m 
  • Mixed Team Relay 
  • Men’s 1500m 
  • Women’s 1000m 
  • Women’s 3000m Relay 
  • Men’s 500m 
  • Men’s 5000m Relay 
  • Women’s 1500m 

Skeleton

  • Men's
  • Women's

Ski Jumping

  • Men’s Normal Hill Individual
  • Women’s Normal Hill Individual 
  • Mixed Team 
  • Men’s Large Hill Individual
  • Men's Team

Snowboard

  • Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle
  • Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle 
  • Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom 
  • Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom 
  • Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe 
  • Women’s Snowboard Cross 
  • Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe 
  • Men’s Snowboard Cross 
  • Mixed Team Snowboard Cross 
  • Women’s Snowboard Big Air 
  • Men’s Snowboard Big Air 

Speed Skating

  • Women’s 3000m
  • Men’s 5000m 
  • Women’s 1500m 
  • Men’s 1500m 
  • Women’s 5000m 
  • Men’s 10000m 
  • Women’s Team Pursuit 
  • Men’s 500m 
  • Men’s Team Pursuit 
  • Women’s 500m 
  • Women’s 1000m 
  • Men’s 1000m 
  • Men’s Mass Start 
  • Women’s Mass Start 
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.