From scandal-hit Russian figure skaters to the thousands of officials and media who faced a daily assault on their nasal passages, the Covid-stricken Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics proved a Games many wished to forget.
Throw in a grim medal haul for Great Britain – salvaged only by double curling glory in the Games’ final days – and it was not difficult to regard the distant Milan-Cortina Games in 2026 as an eminently more appealing prospect.
