Day 3 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Day three of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games was filled with Olympic action along with political and pandemic news.

Here are the key things you should know:

US-born Chinese athletes under scrutiny: American-born Chinese figure skater Zhu Yi fell twice and placed fifth in Monday's event. The 19-year-old came under heavy criticism on Chinese social media, with many questioning why she was chosen to represent China over an athlete born in the country. Meanwhile, freestyle skier Eileen Gu – who was also born in California and is a year younger than Zhu – has charmed the Chinese public with her fluent Mandarin and familiarity with Chinese culture.

Historic firsts: ROC figure skater Kamila Valieva made history on Monday after she became the first woman to land a quad at the Winter Games. The 15-year-old is one of the youngest athletes taking part in this year's Winter Olympics but she is not the youngest. Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst became the first athlete – man or woman – to win an individual gold medal in five separate Olympics. The 35-year-old was victorious in the women's 1,500m speed skating event on Monday. She won her first gold medal in 2006.

American skiing icon crashes out: Mikaela Shiffrin crashed out of the grand slalom, saying, "I won't ever get over this." The three-time Olympic medalist got a Did Not Finish on her first run after failing to complete the course, ending any hopes of a medal in the event, which was won by Sweden's Sara Hector.

Covid-19 delays: The pandemic continues to make news at the Olympics, with new cases still being reported daily, including a Team USA figure skater. Covid concerns also caused an hour-long delay at Monday's women’s ice hockey match between the ROC and Canada, as the teams waited for their test results. Eventually, they played the majority of the game wearing face masks. Team ROC removed their masks after the third period.

Peng Shuai: Olympic officials met with Chinese tennis superstar Peng Shuai over dinner on Saturday, following through on a promise to hold a meeting with the former Olympian, who has been at the center of international concern after she alleged she had been pressured into sex by a retired top Chinese Communist Party official – an explosive allegation she has since appeared to retract.

US figure skater Vincent Zhou will not compete on Tuesday after testing positive for Covid-19: Team USA figure skater, Vincent Zhou, will not compete in Tuesday's men’s single skating short program competition after revealing he tested positive for Covid-19. "It seems pretty unreal that of all the people, it would happen to myself," Zhou said in a video posted on Instagram on Monday. Zhou said he has been doing "everything in my power" to avoid Covid during the pandemic. "I've taken all the precautions I can. I've isolated myself so much that the loneliness I felt in the last month or two has been crushing at times." He added that this has been painful, but "I do recognize that this absolutely does not define me as an athlete, as a person."

The 2022 Winter Olympics are underway! With the competition taking place in a "closed loop" Covid-19 secure bubble in the Chinese capital, the 2022 Games are like no other, for athletes and fans alike.

So here are answers to some of the burning questions you might have about the 24th Winter Games.

Where are the next Winter Olympics?

Get more of your Olympics questions answered here.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki, a self-described “Olympics-obsessed person,” offered her full-throated support for American athletes competing at the Beijing Olympics during Monday’s press briefing, telling reporters while the US chose to forego sending an official delegation, citing China’s human rights record, “We wanted to note Team USA has our full support.” 

The White House announced its diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics late last year, citing "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.” In an interview with CNN Sunday, Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield blasted genocide in China, but took efforts to convey the US was focused on “protect[ing]” athletes competing at the 2022 games. 

Psaki also took the opportunity to offer shoutouts to figure skater Nathan Chen, snowboarder Chloe Kim, and alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, adding “we'll be rooting for US athletes, even as we made a very important statement about our concerns about Beijing's and the Chinese human rights abuses.”

CNN’s signal appeared to be briefly blocked in China as CNN’s Selina Wang reported on the continued controversy around Chinese tennis superstar Peng Shuai.

On Saturday, IOC President Thomas Bach met with the former Olympian who has been at the center of international concern after she alleged she had been pressured into sex by a retired top Chinese Communist Party official — an explosive allegation she has since appeared to retract.

Kirsty Coventry, an IOC member and former Chair of the Athletes' Commission, was also present, according to the IOC. It is unclear whether Peng was accompanied by any Chinese officials.

Questions about censorship and state coercion abound: This is not the first time that the Asian nation has blocked CNN reporting — both on Peng Shuai and her allegations and wider issues considered sensitive by Chinese leadership.

The multi-colored bars also showed up on China's TV feeds as the network previously reported on the allegations when they were first made, Wang reports, adding that Peng's social media post that contained the allegation was removed swiftly along with all traces of her accusation. Peng herself fell silent, Wang added.

The Chinese government has not acknowledged the sexual assault allegations and no inquiry has been announced, but its foreign ministry said it hoped "malicious speculation about her would stop," Wang reported.

Peng also told independent French sports news site L'Équipe in a sit-down interview in Beijing on Sunday that she "never disappeared" from the public eye and said so many people reached out that "it was simply impossible to answer so many messages."

While L’Equipe journalist Marc Ventouillac said that he “didn’t feel during the interview any censorship” and that Peng was relaxed and was “laughing” when speaking about sports, he told CNN that his impression was that Peng was “cautious” when he asked about the sexual assault allegations.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are underway. With the competition taking place in a "closed loop" Covid-19 secure bubble in the Chinese capital, the 2022 Games are like no other, for athletes and fans alike.

So here are answers to some of the burning questions you might have about the 24th Winter Games.

What is skeleton?

Get more of your Olympics questions answered here.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are underway! With the competition taking place in a "closed loop" Covid-19 secure bubble in the Chinese capital, the 2022 Games are like no other, for athletes and fans alike.

So here are answers to some of the burning questions you might have about the 24th Winter Games.

Are athletes allowed to make political statements?

Get more of your Olympics questions answered here.

Team USA figure skater, Vincent Zhou, will not compete in Tuesday's men’s single skating short program competition at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics after revealing he tested positive for Covid-19.

"It seems pretty unreal that of all the people, it would happen to myself," Zhou said in a video posted on Instagram on Monday. "That's not just because I'm still processing this turn of events but also because I have been doing everything in my power to stay free of Covid since the start of the pandemic. I've taken all the precautions I can. I've isolated myself so much that the loneliness I felt in the last month or two has been crushing at times."

He added that this has been painful, but "I do recognize that this absolutely does not define me as an athlete, as a person. I am more than just another positive Covid test. I am more than just another face in the crowd."

The 21-year-old became very emotional when talking "to the future Vincent."

He continued, "When you were young sitting on the couch, watching those great skaters on TV, studying their jumps every night at the dinner table and waking up at 4 a.m. or earlier to go into the rink and skate and do double jumps, you had no idea what you were getting into. But you had a dream and you followed it. You made sacrifices for it. You dedicated your life to it. And today, you are that person, Vincent. You made it happen. So be proud of that. Take pride in yourself."

Zhou won the silver medal in Monday's figure skating team event.

Picture the scene: a cowboy or cowgirl riding a horse into the Opening Ceremony bearing the American flag, followed in tow by a skier carrying the Olympic torch.

Yeehaw! Don your cowboy hat and canter into the wild world of Western-style skijoring.

Exhibited at St. Moritz, Switzerland in 1928, skijoring holds the honor of being the first ever demonstration sport at a Winter Olympics.

Born in Europe, skijoring has taken many forms over the years and it's practiced differently across continents.

It began with skiers being pulled by reindeer in Lapland, before practitioners began trying their hand behind horses, dogs and — popularized in the 1950s — motorcycles and cars.

St. Moritz's frozen lake — host to the glitzy annual White Turf event since 1907 — has been described as the sport's spiritual home, but skijoring took a trip across the Atlantic not long after and has since blossomed into an ever-growing discipline in the US.

The central difference to the European version of skijoring is that, in the US, the horse has a rider.

While in Switzerland, many competitors grow up on horse ranches and ski, in the US most are either very accomplished horsemen or very accomplished skiers.

It is doubtful that skijoring would ever be added onto the official Olympic schedule, according to Loren Zhimanskova, President of SkijorUSA and Skijor International. She cited reasons surrounding the Games' complicated relationship with animals.

But she would be keen to reignite the demonstration tradition or incorporate it into the Opening Ceremony for a forthcoming Games.

Not least because 2028 marks the 100th anniversary of skijoring at the Olympics and there's a prospect of Salt Lake City potentially being the host city for the 2030 or 2034 Games.

Read more here about skijoring.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are underway! With the competition taking place in a "closed loop" Covid-19 secure bubble in the Chinese capital, the 2022 Games are like no other, for athletes and fans alike.

So here are answers to some of the burning questions you might have about the 24th Winter Games.

How many athletes compete in the Winter Olympics?

Get more of your Olympics questions answered here.