THE Winter Olympics were meant to showcase China’s achievements but to some they have been little short of a "catastrophic failure".

       Sobbing athletes forced to eat disgusting food, draconian Covid restrictions and events held in front of empty stadiums have set against a backdrop of crackdown on any dissent.

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       The venue where skiers competed in front of empty seats in the shadow of a disused steel works 6

       One of the competitors posted a picture of the food she was forced to eat

       Ahead of the games, President Xi Jinping promised his “China is ready” and will deliver a “safe and splendid games”.

       But even before the first event started, many countries including the UK and America, announced a diplomatic boycott of the games in protest of at Chinese human rights violations.

       Competitors were chillingly warned about the need to be “responsible” when discussing China – shorthand for keeping quiet about the treatment of its Uigher population, regarded by the UN as genocide.

       According to human rights campaigner Luke de Pulford, who co-ordinates the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, the games have been a "catastrophic failure".

       "It's difficult to overstate just how bad the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have been," he wrote in the Telegraph.

       " So bad, in fact, that the hashtag 'OlympicFlop" is giving 'GenocideGames' a run for its money. This isn't exactly the PR China wanted.

       "Suffice to say, this hasn’t been the propaganda victory Beijing was hoping for."

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       Ahead of the games, China already had the world’s harshest Covid lockdown, widely seen as a face saving move to ensure the games went ahead.

       That meant no foreign spectators and tickets not on sale to the general public resulting in eerily empty venues.

       Groups of local spectators were "invited" to events and will have to observe strict Covid prevention measures "before, during and after watching the Games”.

       Pictures have shown barren stadiums devoid of spectators other than the odd local.

       One striking image showed the freestyle skiing event taking place in front of rows of empty seats at a disused steel mill.

       The Big Air Shougang venue, far from being showing the best of China was dubbed a “hellscape” by stunned social media users.

       The other abiding memory of the games is the fate of competitors hauled off into quarantine, which left some of them in tears as they endure miserable conditions.

       Russian Valeria Vasnetsova posted a picture of the same inedible meal she was served it three times a day for five days in a row.

       The meal consisted of a few lumps of pasta, a strange looking sauce, half a dozen potatoes and chunks of meat on the bone along with what appears to be chicken

       Vasnetsova, who competes in the gruelling biathlon, complained the food “left her so emaciated that her “bones [were] sticking out”.

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       One athlete posted pictures of flooding in the athletes village Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk 6

       Officials in PPE deal with the flood Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk 6

       Only selected spectators were allowed to attend Credit: Getty 6

       Officials and a giant panda watching one event with empty seats behind Credit: Getty

       “My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes,” she said.

       “I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired.”

       Those living on the athletes’ village also had to deal with flooding

       Water came gushing through ceiling light fixtures and sprinklers, according to Instagram videos posted by cross-country skier Katri Lylynpera.

       The Finnish competitor begged for “help” and described the leak as a “waterfall”.

       Her pictures also showed hazmat clad workers attempting to fix the issue, amid reports officials had asked her to remove them.

       Meanwhile Polish speed skater Natalia Maliszewska described being repeatedly moved into and out of quarantine over successive days due to conflicting Covid test results.

       “I was sitting in the ambulance. It was 3 a.m. I was crying like crazy because I didn’t know what was going on. I did not feel safe at all,” she said.

       “I cry until I have no more tears. I want explanations from the people who made me feel not safe, because nobody is saying anything now. They’re silent.”

       All this was set against the background of China’s intolerance of criticism.

       In mid-January, Beijing-based human rights activist Hu Jia said in China’s state security officials were was summoning activists around the country to tell them to stay silent during the games.

       Ashok Swain, professor of peace and conflict research at Sweden's Uppsala University, said China wanted to "show that it could host the Olympics when the world is passing through a pandemic of a century".

       "Though that mission was somewhat successful, empty venues and the poor organisation of the prestigious event have severely eroded China's image," he said.

       "Moreover, the Olympics also gave possibilities for the rights activists to highlight human rights violations in China.

       "The diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics by the US, UK, and some other allies was not a good PR for China."

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