2022 Olympics Closing Ceremony Garners Less Than 7M Viewers; Beijing Games Down 55% From 2018

The international union that governs skating said Tuesday that it was following the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee in banning athletes from Russia and Belarus from its competitions across the sports of figure skating and speed skating. It becomes the latest organization in the sports world to take action since Russia began its military invasion of Ukraine.

A cross-country skier from Finland had a chilling realization in his run at the Winter Olympics in Beijing this past weekend.

Despite all the high-tech tricks, political posturing and pyrotechnics, the best part of the Closing Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics proved to be the athletes.

Coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics wraps up Sunday with the Closing Ceremony, which will air live from Beijing National Stadium on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app beginning at 7 a.m. ET/4 a.m. PT. NBC and Peacock will rebroadcast the finale gala in an “enhanced primetime presentation” beginning Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

The 2022 Winter Olympics, now three Thursdays into competition, are back where they started ratings-wise.

Simone Biles has shared her support for Winter Olympics star Mikaela Shiffrin after she posted a heartbreaking message to fans.MORE: Simone Biles is engaged! See the heartwarming proposal and stunning ringMikaela took to social media to share a powerful message about the online hate and trolling she has received as she struggled through the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Mikeala was one of Team USA's big hopefuls but she failed to finish the women's combined event, and lost control during the opening few seconds of her run in the giant slalom; Mikeala was defending her 2018 gold medal.WATCH: Simone Biles falls off mat during Tokyo 2020 qualifying roundsShe fell and skied out, ending her 30-race streak, and ended up being disqualified from the event."I know this all too well.

Team USA found a way to make it happen!

ABC’s Good Morning America has been the top morning show among total viewers for some time, but the network on Tuesday trumpeted its most recent weekly win — during the first week of the Winter Olympics.

American track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson is RIGHTFULLY calling out what appears to be a major double standard at this year’s Winter Olympics. And we’re here for her take!

Sha’Carri Richardson, the American track and field star who was banned from the Tokyo Olympics last year for marijuana use, has an issue with Russian Olympic Committee figure skater Kamila Valieva‘s participation in the Beijing Olympics. 15-year-old Kamila tested positive for a banned substance in the midst of the 2022 Winter Olympics, but on Feb. 14, she was granted approval to continue competing by the Court of Arbitration for Sports. The CAS said Kimila’s age is the main reason they decided to lift the ban on the teenager, according to Sport’s Illustrated.

Fresh off the gold medal wins for Nathan Chen and Chloe Kim, NBC’s coverage of 2022 Winter Olympics ventured to new heights with Thursday earning the highest demo of the games so far.

Hoda Kotb took to social media to reveal an incredible bit of news that had fans feeling as elated as she was.MORE: Jennifer Lopez teases Hoda Kotb about Joel Schiffman split live on Today showThe Today Show star shared a picture on Instagram featuring the two athletes who had brought the United States gold at that point at the 2022 Winter Olympics.WATCH: Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie share how to watch the Winter Olympics GamesThe post highlighted Nathan Chen and Chloe Kim in competition, and Hoda happily wrote: "Good morning GOLD!!! Congrats @nathanwchen @chloekim."One fan excitedly commented: "Thank you Nathan and Chloe for an amazing job - it was so exciting and enjoyable watching you- your hard work and dedication certainly paid off!!"MORE: Hoda Kotb makes rare revelation about home life with daughters Haley and HopeAnother wrote: "Way to go guys!!!! So proud of you," with many others sharing congratulatory messages as well and sharing love for Hoda.While Hoda is currently dealing with the ramifications of her split from longtime fiancé Joel Schiffman, she has maintained that the two are still quite amicable.A post shared by Hoda Kotb (@hodakotb)Hoda celebrated the athletes that won gold for USA at the Winter OlympicsShe has been keeping herself busy by throwing herself into coverage for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which are being held in Beijing.While Hoda did attract a huge amount of fan love for her warm and enthusiastic coverage of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, this year the pandemic and ongoing fears of a resurgence have forced NBC to alter plans. MORE: Inside Hoda Kotb's stylish home where she will co-parent her kids with ex Joel SchiffmanMORE: Hoda Kotb announces split from fiancé Joel Schiffman live on

Go Team USA! Nina Dobrev cheered on Shaun White, while he competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics for snowboarding on Wednesday February 9. The 33-year-old actress posted tons of videos of her TV screen while her boyfriend, 35, shredding up the slopes to try to win yet another gold medal for the United States in Beijing. Nina topped it all off with a sweet photo with her boyfriend on screen to show that even miles apart, she’s rooting for him.

Figure skater Nathan Chen brought glory to the United States on the ice during Monday’s primetime coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics, shattering the world record in the men’s short program at the Beijing games. Nabbing 113.97 points, Chen brought in the highest short program score in figure skating history. Monday saw new highs for Chen and the winter sport, not for NBC’s fifth night of coverage, or at least in early numbers.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Vincent Zhou will not be able to compete in the Men’s ice skating events at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Go team go! Team USA has a long history of winning at the Winter Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Games are no different.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNBC Sports says 16 million viewers tuned in to watch the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday, an all-time low for Olympic ceremonies on linear television.That’s around 43% down compared to the 28.3 million viewers that watched the PyeongChang Winter Olympics opening ceremony in February 2018.Friday’s torch-lighting in Beijing aired live on NBC and the streaming service Peacock beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET yesterday morning and was replayed again in primetime.

It’s early days at the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, but NBC must already be praying for some Gold medal glory or the Super Bowl to give them a boost. Right now, coming off record low viewership in the first night of primetime coverage, the billions the Comcast-owned network fork out to broadcast the Games until 2032 isn’t looking like money well spent.