De todo un poco!
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The opening ceremony of the JJ.OO. Beijing Winter Games 2022 began today at the National Stadium in the Chinese capital, which thus became the first city in history to host both these games and the Summer Games (2008).
The stadium, popularly known as “El Nido” and which was also the scene of the inauguration of the event in 2008, has extremely limited capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has also caused the opening to last one hundred minutes, much shorter than usual.
China officially kicks off the 2022 Winter Olympic Games with the opening ceremony Friday at Beijing’s iconic National Stadium, also known as The Bird’s Nest, the site of the ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Games.
Friday’s opening ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. (1200 UTC) and will be attended by President Xi Jinping, who will announce the official opening of the Games.
Xi will be joined by dignitaries including Russian leader Vladimir Putin, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. But several countries, including the United States, Britain and Canada, are staging a diplomatic boycott of the Games to protest what they say is the genocide of some 1 million Muslim Uyghurs in China’s far western Xinjiang province.
Beijing officials have rejected the allegations of human rights abuses.
India is the latest to join the boycott. New Delhi’s announcement came after China included in an Olympic torch relay ahead of Friday’s opening a soldier who was involved in a deadly 2020 border clash with Indian troops. The participation of the soldier, Qi Fabao, was reported by the Chinese media.
German slider Natalie Geisenberger said she had considered boycotting but decided against it. “We athletes have absolutely nothing to do with the decision to award the Olympic Games to Beijing — the (IOC) decides, and we athletes are presented with a fait accompli,” she said.
This year’s Games come amid a number of COVID-19-related restrictions imposed on the nearly 3,000 athletes, and the public. Tickets were not sold to the general public because of health concerns and even though some spectators will be present at the ceremonies the number of attendees is unclear.
The athletes will not have the opportunity to explore China outside the Olympic gates. They and the thousands of Olympic Village support personnel, press and volunteers have been restricted to designated venues, cutting them off from the rest of China during the competition. Officials say at least 290 COVID-19 cases have already emerged in the “bubble.”
Meanwhile, some countries have advised their athletes to not bring their cellphones and laptops to China because of cybersecurity concerns. The FBI said earlier this week that China’s hacking operations are “more brazen” than ever before.
The staging of the Olympics in China coincides with worldwide concerns about the safety of China’s star tennis player Peng Shuai after she said a high-ranking Chinese government official had sexually assaulted her.
The International Olympic Committee, however, said they have met with her and will meet with her during the Games.
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