![]() ![]() The truncated torch relay seemed to have little effect on Luo, who after receiving the torch from Vice Premier Han Zheng said it was the realization of decades-long aspiration. However, in keeping with China's "zero tolerance" approach to the pandemic, strict rules require lockdowns and mass testing when any real or suspected case is discovered. China says only selected spectators will be allowed to attend events, and Olympic athletes, officials, staff and journalists are required to stay within a bubble that keeps them from contact with the general public.īeijing, with its 20 million residents, has experienced only a handful of COVID-19 cases and reported just two new ones on Wednesday. The Beijing Games have already been affected on a scale similar to that experienced by Tokyo during last year's Summer Olympics. The torch will be carried through the three Olympics zones, starting with downtown Beijing before heading to Yanqing district and finally Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei Province. Luo Zhihuan, the country's first internationally competitive speedskater, ran the first leg. The relay opened at the Olympic Foreign Park. Shortened Olympic torch relay for 2022 Winter Games begins in BeijingīEIJING - The three-day torch relay for the Beijing Olympics, shortened considerably because of concerns about the coronavirus, started Wednesday with an 80-year-old former speedskater carrying the flame. and others in the international community, who have repeatedly called out Beijing for its repressive policies toward the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]() Selecting Dinigeer Yilamujiang, who is originally from Xinjiang, to play such a prominent role was immediately seen as a rebuke from China toward the U.S. Many observers had predicted China might select one of several high-profile gold medalists, such as retired speedskater Yang Yang or retired pairs figure skaters Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo. The identity of the person who lights the Olympic cauldron is always a tightly guarded secret. The flame was placed inside the unusual cauldron by two young athletes: cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang, 20 - who was born in the Xinjiang autonomous region, according to her Olympic bio - and Zhao Jiawen, 21, who hails from Shanxi province and will compete in the Nordic combined (which includes cross-country and ski jumping). The snowflake then rose high above the stadium floor as a barrage of fireworks erupted over the Bird's Nest, creating the pattern of the Olympic rings. #StrongerTogether | #OpeningCeremony | #Beijing2022 /ATJjZVx3yQ- The Olympic Games February 4, 2022īeijing organizers called it "innovative and inspiring" - and in their tweet, they avoided calling it a cauldron altogether, simply stating, "The Olympic flame has been lit inside the beautiful snowflake" at the ceremony. The Olympic cauldron is lit by Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Zhao Jiawen! □ And while many viewers appreciated that symbolism, they often circled back to a larger debate over a small issue: the cauldron. The large snowflake is made up of smaller snowflakes bearing participating countries' names. And those are the impressions many people quickly shared - along with questions such as "Is that it?" Winter Olympics opening ceremony director Zhang Yimou had promised the cauldron would "certainly be different" and would take people by surprise. Rather than an inferno, its flame comes from a single torch, and the identity of one of its lighters made a major political statement. The Olympic flame is now burning in Beijing's Bird's Nest, poised in the center of an extremely unique cauldron that's shaped like a huge snowflake. Chinese torchbearers and Olympic athletes Dinigeer Yilamujian (left) and Zhao Jiawen place the Olympic flame into its snowflake cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, at the National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing.
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