Robot bartenders and hazmat suits: Welcome to the 2022 Beijing Olympics

By: The Canadian Press Posted: 12:56 PM CST Monday, Jan. 31, 2022 Last Modified: 10:11 PM CST Monday, Jan. 31, 2022

BEIJING - The opening ceremony may be days away, but it's already clear that covering the 2022 Beijing Olympics will be unlike anything even the most seasoned sports reporter has experienced.

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BEIJING - The opening ceremony may be days away, but it's already clear that covering the 2022 Beijing Olympics will be unlike anything even the most seasoned sports reporter has experienced.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/01/2022 (1345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEIJING – The opening ceremony may be days away, but it’s already clear that covering the 2022 Beijing Olympics will be unlike anything even the most seasoned sports reporter has experienced.

Robots mixing drinks and serving up wontons, cabins the size of large closets in the press centre offering hour-long power naps and airport staff in hazmat suits are some of the unique sights at the Beijing Games, which has athletes, staff and media separated from the public in a “closed loop” to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Some reporters have said the doors to their hotel rooms were sealed with packing tape while they awaited the results of their airport COVID-19 test, and notification of the result via phone and a noisy removal of the tape can happen at any hour.

Staff dressed in hazmat suits and safety gear direct people as they make their way through the first steps of customs, COVID-19 testing and accreditations upon arriving at the airport for the Beijing Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, on Monday Jan. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

While last year’s Tokyo Olympics also operated inside a “bubble” environment, the measures at the Beijing Games are next level.

Those who enter Beijing’s “closed loop” are tested for COVID-19 daily and are restricted to moving between approved hotels to competition venues or the main press centre.

This is the second Winter Olympics in Asia featuring functional and entertaining robots.

Robotic fish, a vacuum robot that played songs and robots that delivered water and soft drinks in their refrigerated bellies were a hit in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.

In Beijing, a robotic arm in the press centre pub mixes four kinds of drinks from overhanging bottles and shakes the cocktails with gusto. The arm kindly shakes every last drop into the glass.