How To Watch Ridgefield's Hometown Olympian Compete In Beijing

RIDGEFIELD, CT — With COVID-19 protocols restricting spectators to a select few in the 2022 Beijing Olympics starting Friday, the only way to cheer on Winter Olympics athletes with ties to Connecticut is from home.

In Ridgefield, viewers will be keeping an eye on the schedule for single men's luge events featuring hometown phenom Tucker West.

Beijing will be the third Olympics for the 26-year-old West, who was the youngest to ever win a national championship in the sport in 2011. He is coming off three World Cup victories, and 10 World Cup medals total in his career.

The Olympic schedule shows competition beginning Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony. The sleds will first hit the slopes in training runs 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre. West's debut will be in the Men's Singles Training Group B Run 1, at 8:15 a.m.

The athletes will continue with training runs early every morning though Friday, and the men will begin singles competition Saturday at 6:10 a.m., according to the Olympic luge competition schedule.

The Beijing Games are the second Olympics competition to be held during the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics were delayed until 2021, and athletes in Beijing will face similarly rigid protocols, as COVID-19 numbers remain high around the world.

Olympic organizers in mid-January suspended ticket sales to the general public, saying that selected groups of spectators would be invited on-site. International spectators cannot attend.

How To Watch The Olympics

NBCUniversal is the main broadcast partner and will offer 2022 Beijing Olympics programming across its cable, broadcast and digital platforms, including NBC, USA, CNBC and the Olympic Channel.

But what if you've cut the cord on cable? People with basic cable packages that include access to NBC can watch livestream coverage with the NBC Sports app.

Here are some other options:

• SlingTV’s Blue Plan includes access to channels broadcasting live Olympic coverage.
• Sling is offering a free trial of its Blue Plan, which includes access to channels broadcasting live Olympics coverage.
• fuboTV offers Olympic livestreams;
• Hulu + Live TV gives you access on TVs, tablets, laptops and other devices.
• NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, offers livestreaming via laptops, smartphones and smart TVs.

The Olympic athletes face a number of hurdles under a COVID-19 safety plan that includes daily testing of both athletes and workers. A positive test could sideline athletes, even if they’re no longer contagious, but Olympic organizers say the plan is flexible and allows for a case-by-case review on the need for isolation.