Politics, pretend snow, fears over phone tampering and PCR testing - the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing is on track to become an Olympics like no other.
In just over two weeks' time, the eyes of the world will return to the Far East for the greatest show on earth - just six months after the curtain closed on the Summer Games in Tokyo.
Beijing, which will become the first city in history to host both a Summer and a Winter Olympic Games, will showcase a record 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports. Seven new events have been added to the schedule- including women's monobob and mixed team competitions in freestyle skiing and speed-skating.
Beijing's Winter Olympics is edging closer and the final preparations are underway for Games
Team GB are targeting a record-breaking medal haul at these games. UK sport have predicted that Team GB could win anywhere between three and seven medals. This would be an impressive feat after the last two years of adversity in which athletes' ability to train and prepare will have undoubtedly been affected.
Team GB's Winter Olympic medal record currently stands at five medals from a single Games, which was achieved in both Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018.
But Team GB athletes won't be allowed to have their family and friends cheering them on in the stands due to Covid restrictions. With many unprecedented hurdles to navigate over in China, they will need to feel the support from home more than ever.
The action kicks-off in Beijing on February 4 - but who exactly are our Team GB medal hopefuls and who should we keep an eye out for? Sportsmail takes a look...
1. Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat (Curling)Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds are set to make history as the first athletes to represent Team GB at two curling events at the same Games when they compete in the mixed double event and their men's and women's team events respectively.
Mouat, 27, and Dodds, 30, both from Edinburgh, are the current world champions after beating Team Canada in the semi-finals before defeating Team Norway to win the gold medal at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Championship.
Team GB curlers Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds are set to make history in China next month
The pair have been close friends since they met when they were just eight and 11-years-old at Gogar Park Curling Club in Scotland and they are the heavy favourites to win the mixed double gold medal in Beijing.
Even though Mouat and Dodds are old friends who have both been competing in the sport for years, they only competed together for the first time in March 2020 when they won their first national title.
Since then the duo have been on fire and will arrive in Beijing aiming to stand on top of the podium.
2. Charlotte Bankes (Women's Snowboard Cross)Just like Mouat and Dodds, 26-year-old Charlotte Bankes is favourite to take home the gold medal.
Bankes took up snowboarding after following in the footsteps of her brothers, William and Thomas, who have both also competed in the sport internationally.
Her international career began in 2010 when she originally competed for France and in 2014 she qualified for her first Olympic Games. Four years after her debut in Sochi she finished seventh in Pyeongchang.
Snowboarder Charlotte Bankes, 26, is favourite to take home gold for Great Britain
After the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Bankes made the decision to compete for Great Britain. Born in Hemel Hempstead she moved to France with her parents when she was four.
At the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in 2019, Bankes rose to success and made her first international podium by winning a silver medal in the snowboard cross competition.
In February 2021 at the same competition in Idre, she went one better and became the snowboard cross world champion.
As the reigning world champion and winner of multiple World Cup races, Bankes has form and experience on her side heading into her third Winter Olympic Games.
3. James Woods (Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle)Freestyle skier James Wood will be hoping to go one better and stand on the podium in Beijing.
Wood, born in Sheffield, learnt to ski at Sheffield Ski Village near his family home.
He has narrowly missed out on a medal on two occasions - in Sochi where he placed fifth, and Pyeongchang where he finished in agonisingly in fourth.
Freestyle skier James Wood will be hoping to go one better and stand on the podium in Beijing
He has won four Winter X Games medals - three bronze and a gold in the Big Air event at the X 2017 games in Aspen.
At the 2019 Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in Utah, Woods won the gold medal in the slopestyle competition, beating Birk Ruud and getting revenge on Nick Goepper, who finished ahead of Woods to win Olympic medals in the same event in 2018.
Shortly after he was crowned world champion, Woods announced via his YouTube channel that he was taking a little break from the sport.
After a short hiatus, Woods is back and better than ever. He will be looking to add an Olympic medal to his already impressive collection.
4. Izzy and Zoe Atkin (Women's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle)Sisters Izzy and Zoe Atkin will be hoping that they have got what it takes to reach the Olympic podium in the Women's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle.
Twenty-three-year-old Izzy won a bronze medal in the event at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
She is also a double World Championship bronze medallist (2017 and 2019) and a double Winter X Games Silver medallist.
Sisters Izzy and Zoe Atkin will be hoping that they have got what it takes to reach the podium
Izzy's Olympic chances suffered a major blow just last month after breaking her pelvis, but she made sure fans knew that she was 'already up and walking and keeping hope alive for the Olympics in February' on her Instagram profile.
Team GB are still yet to announce their roster of snowsport athletes, but Izzy's younger sister Zoe will be hoping that her name is announced when the time comes.
In March 2021 Zoe won the first major medal of her senior career at the 2021 World Championships in Aspen. Sibling Izzy failed to make the women's final after only just recovering from the concussion she suffered while at the X Games in January where she won silver.
Four years her junior, Zoe will be the same age that Izzy was when she won her Olympic medal in 2018 at just 19.
5. Katie Ormerod (Freestyle Snowboard)Katie Ormerod, from Brighouse,
