For athletes, boarding the plane to Beijing is already a win

BEIJING : With just over a week until the Winter Games begin, teams are frantically trying to ensure that athletes stay virus-free to get past Beijing's strict checks and make it to the start line as the highly infectious Omicron variant threatens to dash Olympic dreams.

Several teams have reported positive cases of COVID-19 amongst their athletes and coaching staff this week just days before their scheduled departures for China, throwing careful preparations into disarray.

Norway's ski federation said it was delaying the team's departure to Beijing, scheduled for Thursday, by at least four days, after a coach and two competitors, including 2014 cross-country bronze medalist Heidi Weng, tested positive for the virus.

U.S. bobsleigh competitor Josh Williamson missed his flight with his teammates this week after a positive test, he said on social media Wednesday, though he will still compete if he can both get enough negative tests and catch a flight in time.

The Russian team has also been hit by several cases, including figure skater Mikhael Kolyada, who will no longer compete in Beijing after testing positive. Skeleton racer Nikita Tregubov, who won silver in 2018, may also miss out after two positive tests during a training camp in Sochi, southern Russia, his coach said on Tuesday.

LUCKY TICKET

"The ones who will have made it to Beijing will already have drawn a lucky ticket," Elena Vyalbe, president of the Russian Cross-Country Skiing Federation on the Games told TV2, Russia's RIA news agency reported on Wednesday.

    Teams have gone to great lengths to keep their athletes shielded including chartering flights to reduce close contacts.

Team Canada has expanded measures taken before last summer's Tokyo Olympics, requiring