The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics kicked off with the opening ceremony at the National Stadium in the Chinese capital, making it the first city in history to host the Winter and Winter Games. Summer (2008). The stadium, popularly known as the “Bird’s Nest” and which also hosted the opening of the event in 2008, had an extremely limited capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic, which also led to the opening. a much shorter duration than usual (one hundred minutes).
Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Olympic Committee Chairman Thomas Bach chaired the start of the Games. The inaugural show, divided into 15 segments that included the parade of national delegations and the lighting of the Olympic Flame, was directed by renowned Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who also led the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Games .
Before the parade of delegations, the Chinese flag was hoisted, reaching the mast of a human corridor made up of children and adults, who, dressed in traditional costumes, military uniforms and professionals, slid the banner with the ‘only background melody of the bugle sung by a marrec. Among those in attendance were Russian President Vladimir Putin, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, and World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Spain was represented by the Minister of Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta.
In addition to the pandemic, these Games are marked by a US-led diplomatic boycott in response to alleged human rights violations in China – which their government denies – and to which countries such as the United Kingdom have joined. , Australia or Canada.
