Winter Olympics 2022 – Why are athletes given pandas not medals on the podium? Is it because of Covid?

Chances are you’ve been wondering why athletes are given cuddly pandas on the podium instead of medals at Beijing 2022. At the Tokyo Summer Olympics we became accustomed to the medals being dished out inside the stadium – albeit with athletes having to put medals around their own necks due to Covid risks – but that isn’t happening in Beijing. Ad/> Instead, medallists have received a fluffy mascot on the podium, as modelled by New Zealand’s snowboard sensation Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in the above video.

/> Beijing 2022Schmitt hails Bogataj for 'amazing jumps', previews 'really close' men's contest18 HOURS AGO So what’s going on? The double ceremony You can’t say Winter Olympic medallists don’t get their time in the limelight. They typically enjoy not one but two ceremonies: a victory ceremony and a medal ceremony. The victory ceremony follows shortly after the event on a podium, with athletes in Beijing receiving a cuddly panda and hand-knitted bouquets which imitate six real flowers: roses, Chinese roses, lilies of the valley, hydrangeas, laurel, and olive branches.

The medal ceremony takes place later at a special plaza where, as the name suggests, athletes will receive their gold, silver and bronze medals. Like Tokyo, athletes will have to put on their own medals due to coronavirus risks. /> Is the panda ceremony due to Covid? While China has strict Covid restrictions, including widespread use of masks when not mixing within your own team bubble, the victory ceremony, and a later medal ceremony, has long been a staple of the Winter Olympics.