Against all odds, Winter Games open in dual-Olympic city Beijing

BEIJING, Feb. 4: Beijing is basking in the glow of the Olympic flame for a second time after the 2022 Winter Olympics officially opened Friday night in the Bird's Nest Stadium - an iconic 2008 Summer Games venue.

At 21:51 Beijing time, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Games open, in front of about 40,000 home audience and a host of state leaders and international dignitaries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Having already successfully hosted the Summer Olympics 14 years ago, Beijing becomes the first-ever city to stage both summer and winter editions of the global sporting gala.

The torch was relayed inside the stadium between seven prominent Chinese athletes, each of the first five representing a decade of birth from the 1950s to the 1990s. Then, in what promised to be a revolutionary way of lighting the Olympic cauldron, 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.

Instead of a blazing fire burning in the cauldron, this time, the Olympic flame was dancing lightly in the air at the heart of the cauldron.

The innovation of the lighting ceremony represents China's commitment to an eco-friendly and low carbon footprint, in line with the principle of hosting a "green, inclusive, open and clean" Games put forward by President Xi, who has guided the preparatory work since China won the bid for the Games in 2015.

"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 Cai Qi, president of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee (BOCOG), in his address at the opening ceremony.

China's path to Olympic glory wasn't without challenges.

In early 2020, the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the Games preparations. Key meetings between the BOCOG and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials in Switzerland were forced to be held virtually.

What's more, the pandemic resulted in the postponement or cancelation of a number of test events. There were even concerns that the 2022 Games could be postponed, as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was.

Nevertheless, the organizers have managed to get everything ready for the Winter Games. A range of strict COVID-19 countermeasures have been put in place to ensure the safety of the Games participants and the local population.

IOC president Thomas Bach hailed the opening of the Games and thanked the Chinese organizers.

"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 Bach.