In 100 days, the Winter Olympics are back — bringing fans and far-flung logistics

In 2022, after three minutes of spinning, flipping and skiing down a slopestyle course designed to resemble China’s Great Wall, Alex Hall raised his arms triumphantly while accepting the Olympic gold medal.

In 2022, after three minutes of spinning, flipping and skiing down a slopestyle course designed to resemble China’s Great Wall, Alex Hall raised his arms triumphantly while accepting the Olympic gold medal.

Hall's golden moment was met with mostly silence.

Standing atop the podium of a Beijing Olympics that played out under China’s strict “zero-Covid” policy, he looked at empty grandstands. He spent his next day being drug tested, seeing a handful of Team USA friends and doing interviews with journalists for hours before flying home to Utah.

“Not having the fans in 2022, I think, was definitely a bit of a bummer,” Hall said.

When the Winter Olympics open in 100 days with an opening ceremony inside Milan’s famed San Siro soccer stadium, a much different scene will await competitors taking part in the first truly open Winter Games since 2018.