Every four years, the United States joins the rest of the world in the eagerly anticipated events of the Winter Olympics. Jump-started on February 4, 2022, in Beijing, China, the host country welcomed the athletes at the traditional opening ceremony event, which officially commenced the games.

During the opening ceremony, the athletes representing each of the attending countries entered the stadium in a way that displayed their homeland’s culture. At this time, predictions for the event standings were also announced by commentators.

Coming at a unique time in the world’s history, this year’s games have become a subject of controversy given China’s human rights policies, ongoing COVID-19 concerns and ever-changing tensions between nations. With that in mind, many have chosen to boycott watching the games altogether, leading to this Olympic games being one of the lowest viewed since they first began being televised.

However, despite the low audience count, China was able to put together one of the most stunning opening ceremonies in recent history. The event began with a snowflake rising into the air with each of the countries named on it to symbolize unity. Then an impressive light show captivated spectators, followed by the entrance of each competing country. As for this year’s games, ninety-one nations are set to participate, but some of the top prospects include Germany, Norway, Austria, the United States and the Netherlands.

Germany

Germany remains the country that holds tremendous potential given its history where the nation has excelled in cross-country skiing, the luge, alpine skiing and the skeleton. Germany received second place in the total medal count at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, so the nation now looks to obtain the highest medal count this year. Some of the top German athletes are Natalie Geisenburg (German Luger), Claudia Pechstein (German Speed-Skater) and Vinzenz Geiger (German Cross-Country Skiier). During the opening ceremony, Francesco FriedRich and Pechstein carried the German flag as the team entered.

Norway

Norway is another top contender for coming out on top with the overall medal count as they met this goal at the 2018 games when winning thirty-nine medals — eight more than Germany. With that in mind, Norway is projected to dominate the competition once again as they have found great success in alpine skiing, half-pipe snowboarding and the biathlon. Norway’s top athletes set to compete are Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (Norwegian Cross-Country Skiier), Johannes Thingnes Bø (Norwegian Biathlete) and Steffen Walstad (Norwegian Curler). Kjetil Jansrud and Kristin Skaslien carried the flag of Norway during the teams’ entrance at the opening ceremony.

Austria

Austria represents yet another extremely promising prospect despite only walking away with fourteen medals, five of which were gold, in 2018. Austria specializes in all disciplines of snowboarding, alpine skiing, and the luge. With athletes like Alessandro Hämmerle (Austrian Snowboarder), Johannes Strolz (Austrian Skiier) and Julian Lueftner (Austrian Snowboarder), the Austrian Olympic team is a force that should not be underestimated. Julia Maier carried the countries flag during the nation’s entrance at the opening ceremony. 

United States

Not only has the United States established a reputation of excellence in the Summer Olympic games, but can also hold its own in winter sports as well. The nation placed in the top five during the 2018 winter games, so many have proposed that they will keep those standings this time around. Specializing in half-pipe snowboarding, skating and snowboard cross, the United State’s top athletes are Shaun White, (American Snowboarder), Lindsey Jacobellis (American Snowboarder) and Jason Brown (American Figure-skater). Olympic speed-skater John Shuster carried the American flag as the American Olympic team walked out during the opening ceremony.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands is another European country expected to perform well at the 2022 Winter Games. In the 2018 Olympics, they earned a total of twenty medals, eight of which were gold. The Netherlands particularly excels in figure-skating, skeleton and speed-skating. Dutch athletes like Ireen Wüst (Dutch Speed-Skater), Suzanne Schulting (Dutch Speed-Skater), Dimi De Jong (Dutch Snowboarder) are expected to carry the Dutch team to several gold medals. Lindsay van Zundert and Kjeld Nuis carried the country’s flag during this year’s opening ceremony.

As the games continue until February 20, 2022, spectators should stay on the lookout for these countries as each of the individual athletes looks to solidify their place on the podium.