Bubble life: China takes COVID sports routine to new extreme

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Officially, the Beijing Olympics are taking place inside what organizers are calling “the enclosed compound activity area.” That’s a fancy way of saying “a closed loop.” You probably know it better as “the bubble.” And bubbles are now part of the norm at major sporting events. The premise of this bubble is simple: Keep those who passed multiple tests just to get access to the Olympics in, keep the rest of the world and, hopefully, COVID-19 out. It has worked for the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, Grand Slam tennis events, college sports, the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics that took place last summer and so much more.