Beijing (AP) – The opening ceremony for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing is overshadowed by a political boycott by the USA and other countries.
The preparations for the Olympic spectacle in the national stadium known as the bird’s nest in the evening local time (1.00 p.m. CET) are in full swing. Because of the coronavirus pandemic and cold weather, the 3,000-performer ceremony will be smaller than the spectacular opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in China’s capital, when 15,000 people attended.
PREMIERE: Beijing is the first city to hold both Summer Games and Winter Games. However, political tensions and criticism of human rights violations in the host country are a burden on the sporting event. Countries like the US, UK, Canada and Australia are boycotting the celebrations by not sending senior officials. Germany is not represented in a similar way, but like Japan does not speak of a boycott.
GUESTS: Prominent guests, on the other hand, are Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General António Guterres. From Europe, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić and Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri are represented. On the other hand, the Netherlands, Denmark and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have also decided not to send government representatives.
CORONA CONCERNS: Despite all restrictions and precautions, there are new corona cases every day. On Friday, the organizers announced that 21 infected people were discovered among 72,425 corona tests the day before. According to this, 14 of the infections were found in athletes, supervisors and other Olympic accredited persons at Beijing Airport on arrival on the same day. The total number of corona cases has risen to a total of 308 since January 23. The German team is also affected: after figure skater Nolan Seegert was the first German athlete to test positive for the corona virus, there were six more cases on Thursday. It was initially not known whether other athletes were affected.
GERMAN STANDARD BEARERS: Speed skater Claudia Pechstein and bobsleigh pilot Francesco Friedrich will invade as German standard bearers. “This is worth more to me than all my Olympic medals,” said the 49-year-old five-time Olympic champion before her eighth Olympic appearance. Pechstein won the election with 37.43 percent ahead of snowboarder Ramona Hofmeister (34.52) and tobogganist Natalie Geisenberger (28.06). Half of the flag bearers were chosen by the athletes of the German team and half by the fans. Friedrich (43.39) prevailed against ice hockey captain Moritz Müller (39.02) and toboggan ace Tobias Wendl (17.6). “It’s like being knighted in England,” said the double Olympic champion.
PROGRAM AND ACTORS: As with the 2008 Summer Games, the 100-minute opening ceremony was again arranged by the Chinese star director Zhang Yimou. The 71-year-old is also known for his films such as “Rotes Kornfeld”, “Rote Lantern”, “Leben!” or known as “The Great Wall”. He promises a “unique opening” and “wonderful moments”. What is leaking out in detail suggests plenty of visual effects, projections, high-definition TV screens, and technologically-enhanced art.
A children’s choir has been practicing since December, sometimes until late in the evening. “I find the rehearsals pretty tough,” said a 12-year-old, but was thrilled with her performance. Like all 150 members of the choir, the girl had to move into a quarantine hotel with her mother a week earlier. The last few days have been practiced in the bird’s nest. “I can see that it takes a lot of hard work to present something like this at the end,” said the student. “If you don’t behave on stage, you can screw up the whole show.”
Footage from rehearsals showed not only performances by children in ski suits and panda suits, but also performances by dancers of all ages, including folk dances popular in China’s parks and public squares, especially among older Chinese. “We will show the world the style that China’s seniors bring,” dancer Han Bin, 74, said on state television.