Beijing dazzled at the
opening of the 24th Winter Olympic Games on Friday night. The themes of spring and breaking barriers were on show with the help of technology, innovation, fireworks and performers, and the fundamental principles of friendship and respect were apparent at the ceremony in the Bird’s Nest National Stadium. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the slogan of “together for a shared future” has great meaning. A “simple, safe and spectacular” occasion has been promised and with athletes taking to the slopes, slides and rinks, it is time for hopes and aspirations to be fulfilled.
Not before has a city hosted the Summer and Winter Olympics and following up the spectacle of 2008 will be difficult in such challenging times. The first day of spring, an auspicious event in the Chinese calendar, was chosen for the opening. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach praised Beijing for its preparation and organisation and said he hoped the Games would “change the scale of winter sports forever”. But he also called, in a pointed reference to the United States and other allied countries that refused to send officials to the opening in protest against alleged human rights abuses, that competition should be set aside and bridges built so, just like the athletes, humankind could live together peacefully.
President Xi Jinping said China was committed to pursuing the Olympic dream with concrete action.
That left Russia’s
President Vladimir Putin, with whom Xi held a summit earlier on Friday, as the most prominent foreign leader. But politics are of no concern to the 2,900 athletes from 91 countries and regions, Hong Kong among them, who will be competing; it is their speed, skill, daring and above all, camaraderie, that is on show for the world to see. The Games will also have the lowest-ever gender gap, with women vying for 47.25 per cent of the medals on offer. Athletes are competing in the safety of a coronavirus bubble that isolates them from the wider community and follows China’s successful zero-Covid strategy. That means a sober atmosphere, with few spectators and muted celebrations.
But these Games are also about technology, with robots and other hi-tech equipment at venues and the athletes’ villages, and environmental friendliness and sustainability in transport and facilities. There is also a lesson for a world battling rising temperatures as a result of
climate change; these will be the first Winter Olympics to be held entirely on machine-made snow and ice, Beijing and its surroundings lacking natural snowfall.
Beijing has a proven track record for hosting major events. There should be no doubt that the Olympic spirit will shine through in spite of the political commotion.
