China’s President Xi Jinping declared the games open at 9:02 p.m. local time on Friday at the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium. 16-year-old Barbara Aigner from Lower Austria and veteran Markus Salcher (30) from the alpine camp acted as Austria’s flag bearer.
“It’s a huge honor to be included in this elite circle. A unique experience,” said Salcher after the ceremony. “I was pretty nervous before the opening ceremony, but Markus said we’ll do it. The atmosphere in the stadium was unique,” reported Barbara Aigner. Among others, Johannes Aigner, Veronika Aigner, Thomas Grochar, Eva-Maria Jöchl, Nico Pajantschitsch, Manuel Rachbauer, Christoph Schneider, Elina Stary, Rene Eckhart and Bernhard Hammerl marched in for Austria.
Paralympics President Andrew Parsons gave an emotional speech allegedly criticizing Russia for the Ukraine war, without naming names. “We strive for a better and stronger inclusive world, free from hate and ignorance, free from conflict and contention,” he said. “Paralympic athletes know that the opponent is not an enemy. Together we can achieve more.” The Brazilian ended his speech with a loud call for peace.
Russia and Belarus were banned from the games after protests by numerous athletes. 46 nations take part in the Paralympics. Ukraine went to Beijing with the whole team. She was greeted with a special round of applause. IOC President Thomas Bach did not return to China 12 days after the end of the Olympic Games.
Source: Nachrichten
