Athletes traveling to Beijing for the Winter Olympics will be able to skip quarantine if they are fully vaccinated, a signal that China is willing to ease some restrictions to ensure that teams make it to the Games in February.
But athletes will still face strict rules, and punishment for violating them, including expulsion, the Beijing Olympics’ organizing committee said on Wednesday. The committee members did not specify what offenses would merit expulsion. But the Beijing Olympics are already shaping up to be the most extraordinarily regulated, large-scale sporting event since the start of the pandemic.