How China’s big Winter Olympics was ‘catastrophic failure’ as pics show barren venues, disgusting food & no crowds

" So bad, in fact, that the hashtag 'OlympicFlop" is giving 'GenocideGames' a run for its money. This isn't exactly the PR China wanted.

"Suffice to say, this hasn’t been the propaganda victory Beijing was hoping for."

Ahead of the games, China already had the world’s harshest Covid lockdown, widely seen as a face saving move to ensure the games went ahead.

That meant no foreign spectators and tickets not on sale to the general public resulting in eerily empty venues.

Groups of local spectators were "invited" to events and will have to observe strict Covid prevention measures "before, during and after watching the Games”.

Pictures have shown barren stadiums devoid of spectators other than the odd local.

One striking image showed the freestyle skiing event taking place in front of rows of empty seats at a disused steel mill.

The Big Air Shougang venue, far from being showing the best of China was dubbed a “hellscape” by stunned social media users.

The other abiding memory of the games is the fate of competitors hauled off into quarantine, which left some of them in tears as they endure miserable conditions.

Russian Valeria Vasnetsova posted a picture of the same inedible meal she was served it three times a day for five days in a row.

The meal consisted of a few lumps of pasta, a strange looking sauce, half a dozen potatoes and chunks of meat on the bone along with what appears to be chicken

Vasnetsova, who competes in the gruelling biathlon, complained the food “left her so emaciated that her “bones [were] sticking out”.

“My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes,” she said.

“I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired.” 

Those living on the athletes’ village also had to deal with flooding

Water came gushing through ceiling light fixtures and sprinklers, according to Instagram videos posted by cross-country skier Katri Lylynpera.

The Finnish competitor begged for “help” and described the leak as a “waterfall”.

Her pictures also showed hazmat clad workers attempting to fix the issue, amid reports officials had asked her to remove them.

Meanwhile Polish speed skater Natalia Maliszewska described being repeatedly moved into and out of quarantine over successive days due to conflicting Covid test results.

“I was sitting in the ambulance. It was 3 a.m. I was crying like crazy because I didn’t know what was going on. I did not feel safe at all,” she said.

“I cry until I have no more tears. I want explanations from the people who made me feel not safe, because nobody is saying anything now. They’re silent.”

All this was set against the background of China’s intolerance of criticism.

In mid-January, Beijing-based human rights activist Hu Jia said in China’s state security officials were was summoning activists around the country to tell them to stay silent during the games.

Ashok Swain, professor of peace and conflict research at Sweden's Uppsala University, said China wanted to "show that it could host the Olympics when the world is passing through a pandemic of a century".

"Though that mission was somewhat successful, empty venues and the poor organisation of the prestigious event have severely eroded China's image," he said.

"Moreover, the Olympics also gave possibilities for the rights activists to highlight human rights violations in China.

"The diplomatic boycott of the  Beijing Winter Olympics by the US, UK, and some other allies was not a good PR for China."