Winter Olympics 2022 open with snowflakes and fireworks
The 2022 Winter Olympics began at Beijing National Stadium on February 4 with a vibrant opening ceremony.
Beijing is the first city in the world to host both the summer and winter Olympic Games.
The impressive ceremony formally begins three weeks of winter sports competitions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Games open, in front of about 40,000 home audiences and a host of state leaders and international dignitaries, including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt also attended the ceremony.
The grand opening of Beijing 2022 coincided with the beginning of the Chinese New Year.
The 2022 Winter Olympics is the first international multi-sport event to be held as scheduled since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Winter Olympic motto is “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.”
Around 2,900 athletes from 91 countries and regions are competing in Beijing 2022, demonstrating the power of sports that can lead the way in reuniting the world with the Olympic spirit.
In a segment titled “The Snowflake,” hundreds of children ran across the Bird’s Nest while holding illuminated dove props as LED floor lit up with snowflakes and stars under their feet with help from capture-motion technology.
The lifecycle of the dandelion was represented by dancers carrying improbably tall and flexible glowing green stalks.
