In case you might think that the New York Times took its pedal off the gas, see With Olympics Closing Ceremony, China Celebrates a Joyless Triumph by Steven Lee Myers and Kevin Draper (NY Times). The joylessness comes completely from the elements on which the authors focused. They just went through the litany of “hazmat suits”, a picture of Valieva crying—the standard, by now, to indicate to readers that they are learning about the 2022 Olympics, as if there were no other events—and, of course, talking about how all of the New York Times’s coverage of Taiwan and Ukraine “overshadowed” the Olympics. This is quite adorable, as those narratives are, in large part, produced by the New York Times itself. So, they’ve chosen to ignore and dismiss the Olympics and then wrap up their “coverage” by claiming that they’ve succeeded. Nice work if you can get it.

If you read very deep into the article, you can find some quotes from actual athletes, who have praised China for its organization, preparation, venues, and safety. They seem to like that they each get their own bedroom (not at all the standard at other Olympics) and that they were all tested every day, to keep COVID cases to an absolute minimum, allowing nearly every athlete to compete, as scheduled.