Beijing Kicks off Winter Games

The Beijing Olympic Winter Games were inaugurated on Friday night, with the city hosting the Olympic flame for the second time in the Bird's Nest Stadium.

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The Chinese President Xi Jinping decreed the opening of the Beijing Winter 2022 at 21:51 local time, in the presence of 40 000 home audience and the state leaders and international diplomatics, such as  Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Beijing became the first city to host summer and winter editions of the global sporting gala, as held the Summer Olympic Games in 2008. Fireworks brightened in the sky as the opening ceremony began. The Olympic torch was got to the stadium by seven prominent Chinese athletes, each of the first five representing a decade of birth from the 1950s to the 1990s.

The Olympic cauldron was lighted in an originally was, as the Chinese female cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang and male Nordic combined athlete Zhao Jiawen, both born after 2000, jointly placed the torch in the middle of a giant snowflake-shaped cauldron, which ascended to the top of the stadium

The freshness lighting ceremony was a representation of an eco-friendly and low carbon footprint, in line with the principle of hosting a "green, inclusive, open and clean" Games organized by President Xi.

"Today, we witness here how Beijing becomes the first city ever to host both the summer and winter editions of the Olympic Games, and how China writes a new chapter in the history of the Olympic Movement," said the president of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee (BOCOG), Cai Qi during the opening ceremony.

"Unfortunately, the global pandemic is still a reality for all of us. Therefore, our gratitude is even deeper for the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee, the public authorities, and all the Chinese people. Thank you for making these Olympic Winter Games happen and making them happen in a safe way for everyone," said Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee(IOC) at the opening ceremony.

"This extraordinary achievement is the start of a new era for global winter sport. It will raise the global participants to new levels, benefiting the Chinese people as well as winter sports enthusiasts around the world," stated Bach.