The Winter Olympic Virus, Day 5

• NBC's television's ratings for these Games are as brutal as the current USA gold medal count (Zero, entering Day Five).
• Only 12.8 million a night are watching the Beijing Games, down from 27.8 million a night for Pyeongchang just four years ago.
• 13.6 million Saturday, 13.7 million Sunday.
• If there's ONE saving grace, the Olympics, for people who still watch network television, still shoves the other networks away in the ratings.
• And, remember, Tokyo was down almost half from Rio.
• In a story which indicates medal counts and table position COULD be having an impact, Inside the Games is reporting the Swedish broadcast of the Winter Opening Ceremony's audience was double that of the Summer Opening Ceremony's six months ago in that country.
• And if there's one and only one other saving grace in the States, the Winter Olympics in the United States have reached one billion streaming minutes faster than any Games previously -- more visibility on the NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock is the cause of that.
• I could, depending on medal results, have a post coming up later in the Games or just after, but I'll pose the question here in case I don't do it:  Could we be looking at not only a more authoritarian bent to the Games in the upcoming decades, but even up to and including a post-American Olympic movement??  
• The chairperson of the WTA wants a meeting with Peng Shuai, the apparent meeting with the IOC chair not satisfying concerns about her safety.  Oh gee, whoda thunk...   
• A Ghanian skeleton racer wants talks between the IOC and African National Olympic Committees over the lack of Winter Olympians from the continent.  Ummmmmmmmmm..  I get the intent, but there's this little thing called "climate"...  
• Lindsey Jacobellis, after sixteen years of trying and six world championships in SnowboardCross, has finally broken the American gold-medal maiden at these Games, about 4 PM on Day Five.  In her fifth Olympics and with only one silver medal to her name (and that, marred by a showboating incident in 2006!), she finally won gold today in the event.
• Don't look now, but there's the potential of a MAJOR INCIDENT in the figure-skating arena.  An unknown "legal issue", believed to be a doping offense, has postponed the team figure-skating medal ceremony, scheduled for tonight.  Mark Adams of the IOC has noted this is a legal problem which is requiring discussion with the International Skating Union.  Not only does this have ramifications regarding the USA possibly winning a second gold if this is the Russians (it's the illegal Russian team, the USA, and/or the Japanese), but the Russians have the top three projected women AND the top two pairs in the Olympic competition.  This could send shockwaves through the Olympic figure-skating.  Stay tuned, more could be coming later in the day.  If one of the medalist teams is disqualified, Canada graduates to the podium.  
• Further reports indicate this DOES appear to be the Russian Olympic champions.  My guess:  The Russian doping of choice these days, melodonum or however it's spelled.  
• Inside the Games is reporting it appears to concern a pre-competition drug test.  It is not impossible to discern that this event's medals may not be awarded in Beijing at all, but any effort will be made to do so.
• And, already, at least one Russian in the thread trying to protect them.
• And now implied word with the training sessions on Day 5 this could involve up to FOUR of the Russian skaters.  Now they HAVE TO get this settled, because this is an explosive situation, given the Russians' projected medal total in the sport for these Games.  SI had them, at minimum, with three golds, two silvers, a bronze, and I don't know what the ice dancing projection was for the ROC team.
• They are also reporting, back to COVID, the French Sports Minister will not be able to attend the Games at all due to being COVID-positive.
• Temperatures at some of the Games venues are so cold, some of the biathletes can't reload theri guns -- one snowboarding competitor caught frostbite!