The Beijing Olympics: Action in the bubble
Braving piercing subzero temperatures, AP photographers creatively captured a stream of athletes as they skied, jumped, somersaulted and skated in the confining bubble of the Winter Olympics.
Even though frame rates now can capture the bullet fired from a biathlete’s rifle and autofocus can track a luger sledding at speeds of over 90 mph (144 kph), capturing the precise memorable moment still requires a discerning eye.
In the following video, Atlanta-based photographer Brynn Anderson and Beijing photographer Mark Schiefelbein speak of their experiences covering curling and sledding events during their first Olympic assignment.
The Shot is a monthly series showcasing top photojournalism from staff photographers at The Associated Press. Each month, AP photographers will share the stories behind some of their iconic imagery.
Produced by AP News staff. The sponsor was not involved in the creation of this content.
Natacha Pisarenko
Before going to the Olympics, I tried not to get too excited. I needed to test negative for COVID twice, in a country where almost everyone was getting the virus. This picture represents the fact that I made it. After all the stress, tests and paperwork, there I was, covering the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Jeff Roberson
Any photojournalist hopes to provide a glimpse of what their subject might be feeling. After Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva finished her short program, she paused and placed her hands on her head, apparently emotionally drained. A human moment in an otherwise stoic performance.
David J. Phillip
After days of intense drama over Russian Olympic Committee skater Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old finally took to the ice to perform her short program. I set my 135mm f/1.8 lens to wide open to help separate the subject from the background. She jumped in a perfect spot to capture a dramatic moment.
Bernat Armangue
When Russian skater Kamila Valieva failed a pre-Games drug test she instantly became the top story of the Olympics, surrounded by journalists watching her every move and interaction. As a photojournalist, I understood the importance. As a father, I saw a teenager coping with a level of public exposure few could withstand. This is not a “top” shot. It’s just a picture of a girl receiving a hug during a complicated moment.
Alessandra Tarantino
COVID rules that kept us segregated from the public and the extreme cold made it hard to connect to China and its people. Arriving at the cross-country event in Zhangjiakou, we were greeted by this smiling volunteer, but her smile was hidden behind a plastic shield and ice. Kind and helpful despite the challenges, she deserved to have her smile frozen in a shot.
Petr David Josek
I personally like the image because even though it is simple, a lot of elements had to come together for it to actually work like this. The huddle pictures are usually nice but with this one, the color of the uniforms, of the goalies helmet, the hands on the sides of the goal and the fact that Canada’s women’s team is so dominant at the Olympics makes it just a bit more special.
Model: Sony ILCE-1| Lens: 100mm | F-Stop: 4.5 | Shutter Speed: 1/32000 | ISO: 250
A biathlete shoots a bullet at a training session during the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Frank Augstein
This never would have been possible with cameras of the past: With a shutter speed of 1/32000 of a second and a frame rate of 30 frames per second, plus a bit of luck, we can now see the bullet flying out of a biathlete’s rifle, catching the moment of highest concentration of the athlete.
Ashley Landis
We knew that American Brittany Bowe had given her spot in the 500-meter long track speed skating race to her teammate, Erin Jackson, after the No. 1 ranked Jackson stumbled in the Olympic trials. Sure enough, Bowe’s sacrifice was justified when Jackson won gold for the U.S. The emotional moment in this photo sums up the roller coaster journey Jackson and her team endured to end up on top of the podium.
Aaron Favila
Cross-country skiing coverage often entails running from the track to the finish line to shoot the winner. On this day our team decided to go shoot during training when we don’t have to hurry and can show how these amazing athletes perform in the bitter cold. I lay belly-down on the snow in an area where we are often not allowed during the game and prayed not to get run over. As the sun set, I trained my lens to track the subject’s ski as it kicked up snow.
Brynn Anderson
Curling can get repetitive when you are covering 32 people at the same time for weeks. So I slowed down and started looking for details. I found tattoos of Olympic rings, curling earrings, and more small details that revealed big personalities. When Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa ran her hands through her hair, I saw a message she’d written on her hand: “I’m a good curler. I have confidence. Let’s have fun!” Even an Olympic athlete needs words of affirmation.
John Locher
I was assigned to cover the Winter Olympics this year as an editor for cross-country skiing, but I do carry cameras in case I need to help with coverage. And there are always opportunities to look for pictures between the competitive events. Here, I was setting up my computer in the press center when I noticed the warm crepuscular light in the evening sky through the window. I scrambled to gather my cameras before it faded into night. It was quiet on the course, but thankfully a few skiers were out during an unofficial training session. A slow shutter speed blurred the sky and course as I panned my camera with a lone skier from the Russian Olympic Committee.
Andrew Medichini
I was covering ski jumping trials on one of the coldest and snowiest evenings. Dawid Kubacki of Poland was concentrating on breathing before the jump. The vapor of his breath conveyed just how freezing it was (around -20 Celsius).
Robert F. Bukaty
Nobody predicted Mikaela Shiffrin – the world’s most dominant active female skier – would falter early in a second race, but I chose a spot near the start of the slalom event just in case. After Shiffrin skied out, just five seconds in, I photographed her as she skidded off course, letting out a scream of frustration. She then skied to the side where she took off her skis and sat in the snow. I first zoomed in tight as Shiffrin sat with her face buried in her arms. Then I zoomed out to about 200mm and recomposed. I think the looser composition better captures the loneliness of her heartbreak.
Lee Jin-man
After Shaun White’s final run in the snowboard men’s halfpipe, he was surrounded by photographers, reporters and volunteers. I kept watching, waiting for the moment. I saw one of the U.S. snowboard team members gesture, and then Shaun White was heading to halfpipe venue. I started to run. I couldn't get center position, it was crowded and I could use only one hand to zoom and press the shutter, but I got the shot.
Dmitri Lovetsky
During the luge, I stood a few meters from the track and shot riders passing through the Beijing sign. In one race, I heard a slightly different sound but the sled was flying too fast for me to see why. Only looking at the photos later did I realize it was a crash. Fortunately for the athlete, all ended well and she continued to compete.
Matthias Schrader
Shortly before takeoff, ski jumpers strap on their skis, adjust their helmets and goggles, and then squat and concentrate one last time. I was sitting right opposite Artti Aigro from Estonia and he was looking directly into my camera. One last look before jumping at dizzy heights.
Gregory Bull
I had been relying on very standard compositions for most of that day. Using the lovely fixtures of the slopestyle course, I would leave a spot for the athlete to perform, against the backdrop of the ice Great Wall. So for this picture I wanted to deconstruct my planned composition. I used the sun to burn a hole in the middle of the picture and let the snowboarder tear into the lines in the composition. With our cameras, the autofocus is amazing but it will track to lines, so I had to switch to manual, and pre-focus at the distance where the snowboarder would fly into the frame. As luck would have it, the snowboarder also won a medal that day, which was also nice.
Pavel Golovkin
Of the three sports I’ve covered at these Olympics, skeleton impressed me the most. Imagine steering headfirst with a speed of about 120 kilometers per hour. Athletes finish within 0.1 seconds of each other. Flying like a rocket along the track, athletes must perform with seamless accuracy to win.
Matt Slocum
When Canada’s team won its gold medal match against the U.S., captain Marie-Philip Poulin was a big part of the story after scoring two goals. Photographers had to funnel through the penalty box to get onto the ice for the medals ceremony. I ended up in the second row of photographers and had to raise my cameras above my head to get clean photos. That ended up helping when Poulin skated past with her medal, flowers and the Canadian flag. The higher angle allowed her teammates to fill in the background, their faces echoing her joy.
Frank Franklin II
My team and I had been assigned to ski jumping, but we went over to snowboard to help out our colleagues on the day of Shaun White’s last run. We were happy to be a force multiplier. I had never photographed snowboarding before, and this photo is really the result of great teamwork and flexible planning.
Kirsty Wigglesworth
I lay in the snow for an hour as the temperature dropped to nearly -20 during a biathlon training session waiting for a group of biathletes to pass by together, as the sun went down behind the mountains. With the use of the flippable screen on the Sony camera it is much easier to get a picture at this low angle.
Luca Bruno
Nina O'Brien of the United States had almost reached the finish line during the giant slalom competition. Unfortunately, on the final turn she suffered a spectacular and painful fall. I was very sorry for how her story ended, but glad I captured the moment.
Francisco Seco
It was freezing and snowing heavily one evening during training before the women’s aerials qualification. Stationed just after the ramps athletes use to take off into the air, we quickly became covered in snow. But we stayed because we were making really nice photos. This skier looks like she’s flying through a universe full of stars.
Mark Schiefelbein
Every day I photographed the world’s best lugers, skeletoners, and bobsledders as they hurtled down the track dozens and dozens of times a day. But I felt like I had yet to capture what it was truly like to hop on a sled and speed down a twisting sheet of ice at 70 mph or more, where a single mistake can mean disaster. Finally I found a spot where, with timing and luck, I could capture the faces of bobsledders as they rounded a curve sideways at top speed. In their expressions are the determination, focus, and courage that it takes to compete at the highest level in a sport many would be afraid to even try.
Jae C. Hong
China’s COVID precautionary measures inside the Beijing Olympic bubble were no joke. My hotel was sealed off by tall fences with several guards and a police vehicle on site 24/7. All of its staff with face shields and protective gloves. Out of all these visual spectacles inside the Olympic bubble, the Shangri-La Hotel took gold for being over the top of the top. Dressed in white protective gear head to toe, they brewed coffee in a gift shop, helped hotel guests check in and check out at the front desk and took orders in a restaurant.
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Produced by AP News staff. The sponsor was not involved in the creation of this content.