"I think it’s totally innovative and people will be surprised. Considering in 2008, former gymnast Li Ning circled the stadium on high wires to light the torch, I think we can expect something indeed spectacular. So far, we've got just the tease that the lighting of the flame will be a spectacle. It will be interesting to see Yimou's take on the themes of the Opening Ceremony in 2022. Whereas then it was a chance for the country to show the world who they are and their history, now the pandemic has tainted their image for many. Not only will that be a challenge, but China's global image has changed greatly since 2008. Obviously, the pandemic has brought with it some technical difficulties as far as how many performers there can be, the length of the program, and general safety concerns. It's been 14 years since then, a few of which include the Covid-19 pandemic, and China and the world have changed. Performers painted on an LED scroll and thousands of drummers played and chanted. He was the director for the 2008 Beijing Opening Ceremonies, China's first Olympic Games, and he set the bar high with an impressive display of colors and pyrotechnics. Tickets to the events will only be sold to people living in China.Ĭhina has largely sealed its borders since the virus emerged there towards the end of 2019, which has slowed the number of daily infections to a trickle.Remember that filmmaker I glossed over earlier and his tease about the lighting of the torch? Well, let me tell you a little more about this man and why he is so legendary. Participants will stay in a “closed loop” bubble to thwart infections, with athletes having to be either fully vaccinated or face 21 days’ quarantine. It will be the second Olympics to be held under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic after the Tokyo Games earlier this year and athletes competing in Beijing face strict rules to contain the risk of COVID-19 cases. “In these difficult times we are still living through, the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will be an important moment to bring the world together in a spirit of peace, friendship and solidarity,” Bach said on Monday. IOC chairman Thomas Bach has batted off talk of a potential boycott, claiming the International Olympic Committee’s political neutrality and saying it was up to governments to live up to their responsibilities.Ī victim of the 1980 Moscow Games boycott, the former fencer has said such moves only punish athletes, and insists the IOC is addressing the rights issue “within our remit”. Washington has described the treatment of China’s Uyghurs as “genocide”.Īfter initially denying the existence of the Xinjiang camps, China later defended them as vocational training centres aimed at reducing Islamic extremism. Rights groups say more than one million Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang have been held in camps in recent years, their rights to worship and freedoms heavily curtailed by Chinese authorities. “Closer to the Games, a traditional Olympic torch relay will be held,” the IOC said this week, with the Games just over 100 days away. There is highly unlikely to be any such sign of dissent in tightly-controlled China, where Beijing has repeatedly swatted aside talk of a boycott as “politicising sport”.īeijing 2022 organisers have released few details of what they plan, but the IOC has said the flame will go on display to the public at the tower, near the Bird’s Nest Stadium which hosted the opening ceremony for the 2008 Games. When Beijing hosted the 2008 Games, the relay was repeatedly disrupted by protesters in Europe and North America. The low-key event was held in front of a limited audience because of the coronavirus, and in a break with tradition, there was no torch relay on Greek soil.īut rights campaigners accuse the International Olympic Committee of turning a blind eye to what they say is a litany of abuses in China, notably over Tibet, its treatment of Muslim minorities in the region of Xinjiang and its clampdown in Hong Kong.Īctivists grabbed the spotlight at Monday’s lighting ceremony, unfurling a Tibetan flag and a banner that read “no genocide” before Greek police intervened.Ī similar protest was held at the Acropolis in Athens on Sunday. The flame was lit in Athens on Monday and transferred the following day to the organisers of the Beijing Games. On May 20, for the first time, the Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg for the Special Olympics USA Games will begin right here in Chicago with a celebratory Flame Lighting Ceremony. Around 2,900 athletes, representing approximately 85 National Olympic Committees, will compete in the Winter Games from February 4-20, 2022.
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