Julia Marino, who recently won the silver medal in women's snowboard slopestyle at the 2022 Winter Olympics, debriefs her favorite parts of the Games so far: people she admires, her favorite food provided to the athletes in Beijing and how she passes the time in between events.
Considering the zero-tolerance policy for COVID-19 in Beijing, the “closed-loop” system makes it difficult for participants to do anything other than attend competition. There isn’t exactly much opportunity for tourism. But nevertheless, Marino and other athletes have found other ways to make the most of the three week-long contest.
Marino, 24, passes the time by spending off-hours with her friends at their hotel in Beijing, listening to music, dancing and singing along to songs after practices and competition.
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“That’s been super fun,” said Marino in an interview with NBC. “We’ve been having some nice little music sessions in the sunlight before it goes down.”
What’s Marino’s favorite meal so far? The snowboard star does not hesitate for a second when she mentions her go-to food: dumplings.
“I’ve probably had like 200 dumplings since I've been here,” said Marino shamelessly. “I get back from the mountain – dumplings. It’s the only thing I feel like is consistently always good.”
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
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When asked about her favorite encounter so far, Marino hesitated for a second.
“To be honest, we haven’t even seen anybody here because of what’s been going on, we have to stay lowkey, so it’s pretty much just been all my friends who I’ve seen and already met,” said Marino. “But I did hear I was going to be meeting Kevin Hart, so I'm looking forward to that. I think that’s going to be hilarious. I’m excited.”
