OlymPicks: Filipino Teen Eyes 2022 Games, Olympics Stores, and Russia Faces More Accusations

In OlymPicks, we highlight news, gossip, and developments regarding the buildup to Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics.

Young Filipino woman prepares for the 2022 slopes

Sixteen-year-old alpine skier Ana Noelle Reynado Wahleithner (pictured above) will become the first Filipino woman to compete in the Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland next year. If all goes well, the games could put her on a path to Beijing in 2022, which would also make her the first woman ever to represent the Philippines at the Winter Olympics.

In 2018, male Filipino athletes Asa Miller and Michael Christian Martinez took their home country to Pyeongchang, competing in the giant slalom and singles figure skating, respectively. That was only the second time in history that the tropical country sent athletes to two consecutive Winter Olympics, and if they can make it to 2022 games, it will be their first triple streak.

Like Miller, Wahleithner was born in the US but retains her Filipino citizenship. As she described to Olympic.org, “I feel very close to the Filipino side of my family. I grew up living with my maternal grandmother and she was a huge influence on me. I’ve been to the country twice and I absolutely love it there.”

READ: No Gambian Has Never Competed at the Winter Olympics. This Man Hopes to Be the First.

Russia optimistic despite four-year ban recommendation

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) dealt Moscow an embarrassing blow prior to the Pyeongchang Winter Games back in 2018, when it suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and forced Russian athletes to compete as independents. Then, even after two of these “Olympic Athletes from Russia” failed drug tests during the games, the IOC extended a merciful hand and reinstated the ROC, cueing a sigh of relief from a certain shirtless and balding world leader.

Alas, it seems China’s northern neighbors still could not keep their noses clean, so to speak. Russian anti-doping agency Rusada has recently been caught up in another scandal involving inconsistencies in their anti-doping data, spurring a review committee of the the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to recommend an even longer time-out for the ROC. If the committee has its way, the recommended four-year ban would exclude the Russian flag not only from Tokyo 2020 but Beijing 2022 as well.

Despite the dismal outlook for the team, the president of the ROC has expressed his confidence that Russian athletes will be representing their own country from 2020 onward, stating that the committee is doing all it can to ensure that happens.

Daxing Airport opens an Olympic-themed store

Travelers wanting to get a head start on Olympic hype can now take advantage of a new store in Beijing’s new Daxing International Airport. The store, one of the first dedicated 2022 Winter Olympics stores, has started shelling out merchandise featuring the Olympic mascots Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon in the form of keychains, emblems, and stuffed toys. The store takes up 60 square meters on the terminal’s fourth floor.

READ: Plunging the Icy Depths With Houhai's Fearless Winter Swimmers

Images: Philippine Ski Foundation, NBC Sports, China Daily