Former 1941 world speed skating champion Luo Zhihuan carries the torch as he runs the first leg during the kick-off ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics torch relay in front of the Olympic Tower on February 2, 2022 at the Olympic Stadium. Olympic member in Beijing.
Kevin Frayer | beautiful pictures
Beijing kicked off the Winter Olympics torch relay early on Wednesday, with Chinese basketball great and Olympic athlete Yao Ming among the first to carry the flame on a journey that will last just three days due to the Covid-19 curbs.
The relay will carry the flame past landmarks including the Great Wall, and is much more modest than the previous global span event Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics was interrupted by protests along the way.
Because of Covid-19, only selected members of the public will be able to witness the torch relay.
The February 4-20 Olympics are being held inside a “closed-loop” bubble that bans athletes and other Olympic staff from the public, and the event will be open to only select groups of people. choose to attend.
“It’s of course, it’s bad luck but what can you do?”, Georgios Iliopoulos, Greece’s ambassador to China and one of the torchbearers, said when asked if he was worried that The 2022 Olympics will be remembered as the Olympic “halo”. “
“You can’t stop living life and we do our best to get on with what we have to deal with. It’s important that we hold this together and leave it behind as soon as possible.” , he told reporters.
The flame, which flew from Greece in October, will travel to the competition areas, including Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei province, before ending its journey with the light of the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony. on Friday.
Wednesday’s event began under clear blue skies in Beijing when Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng lit a torch from a cauldron in the shape of a traditional ceremonial object known as a zun, then handed it over. for 80-year-old Luo Zhihuan, who is a speed skater. is China’s first winter sports world champion.
More than 1,000 torchbearers will participate in the relay.
When asked how he felt on the morning under the ice, as the Olympic torchbearer, Yao replied, “It’s quite cold, because the last two were for the Summer Olympics. But it’s true. keep the fire warm in winter.”
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