Winter Games 2022: The opening ceremony in the live blog

And the last stage: Two young Chinese athletes carry the flame to the center of a large snowflake. There they put the so-called micro-flame in the middle of the ice crystal. That’s it. It should be a symbol for sustainability. Framed by a glowing heart is the massive snowflake that slowly rises, sculpted by performers who bring it to life. A short firework display ignites over the stadium. Bye.

The final act: The Olympic flame is lit. Who has the great honor? So far it’s a big secret. Athletes of different generations carry the flame through the stadium.

Now more than six hundred children are dancing around the stadium. Your steps sparkle on the ground, generated by artificial intelligence. They hold glowing doves of peace. What would the Uyghurs, who are held captive in re-education camps, or the missing human rights activists say, if they could find out.

The Olympic oath follows…. after that a clip is played showing cute little children taking their first steps on skis or ice skates…

The Olympic anthem is coming soon. Sung by 40 children in Greek. As mentioned at the beginning, the little ones have been practicing for this every day since December, including a week’s quarantine before the performance.

The Olympic flag is carried through the stadium by six former athletes.

The huge floor TV gives it all. To John Lennon’s song “Imagine” ice skaters “sweep” aisles in the snow. The saying that John Lennon would turn in his grave fits quite well, one thinks caustically.

Now Xi Jinping says the famous sentence: “I hereby declare the 24th Winter Olympic Games open.” And that was about it. A massive but brief fireworks display follows.

Bach talks about the Olympic idea: “Harmony and peacefulness” are the goals of the mission. Then he comes to talk about the Olympic truce: “Give peace a chance”. Is Putin listening?

“Your smile warms our hearts” is a phrase Bach used to thank the volunteers.

‘Thanks to our Chinese friends,’ says Bach

It is Thomas Bach’s turn and speaks the introductory words in French. Finally, he greets all participants in English, and the spectators cheer for a moment, as if a volume control had been turned up and down again.

It’s official: the head of the Chinese organizing committee, Cai Qi, is the first to step up to the podium to give his speech. It is noticeable that he particularly emphasizes the sustainability of the games. In view of the many critics who accuse China of overexploiting nature, that sounds a bit strange.

And now a video clip that mixes scenes from the everyday life of the Chinese with sports scenes. People in a street scene sometimes dance like figure skaters.

The pictures that are produced in the bird’s nest are really pretty. In view of the reality in the country and the terrible violations of human rights, they seem almost cynical. The ZDF commentator is right.