Asian Games 2023: CGI torch-bearer in opening ceremony modelled after Chinese middle school boy, organisers reveal
- Gao Yu is chosen to embody the CGI torch-bearer Xiao Huomiao because he is ‘tall with good posture, [having] a sports background and strong arms’
- Gao, a student at Guangzhou Yuyan Middle School, says the involvement in the ceremony is a ‘precious experience’
The Asian Games opening ceremony was billed as a technological masterclass, the pinnac of which was a giant CGI torch-bearer running on the Qiantang River and lighting a ceremonial cauldron at the Hangzhou Olympic Sport Centre Stadium.
It has been revealed that the figure, known as Xiao Huomiao – meaning ‘little flame’ in Mandarin – was actually a middle school student from Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
Gao Yu, a student at Guangzhou Yuyan Middle School in the city’s Huangpu district, was chosen after event organisers underwent a nationwide search for someone to don the CGI suit and portray of Xiao Huomiao.
Although the organisers kept the process behind closed doors, 100 million people were estimated to have applied, according to Guangzhou Daily, a Chinese language news outlet.
Chinese state media said that Gao was selected because he met the criteria of being “tall with good posture, [having] a sports background and strong arms”.
First year middle school students are 14 or 15 years old in China, and Gao, whose mother was a short distance runner, already stands at 1.8 metres tall and participates in track and field.