BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Day and night's anticipation is about to turn into the most glorious moment. From the mid-summer of 2008 to the winter and spring of 2022, the long wait will finally bloom into beautiful fireworks. On the evening of February 4, the much-anticipated Beijing Winter Olympics will be unveiled. At this time, 2380 days have passed since Beijing successfully bid to host the 2015 Winter Olympics.
Beijing Winter Olympics, the way to come
On July 31, 2015, at the 128th Plenary Session of the International Olympic Committee held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Beijing stood out as the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. When Beijing meets the Olympic Games again, this city that perfectly integrates classical and modern will become the world's first "city of double Olympics".
From the national speed skating hall, the national alpine ski center and other new venues to the "winter dream", "ice pier", "snow melting", "flying" successive appearances, from the Beijing Winter Olympics fire in the modern Olympic sports birthplace - the birthplace of the modern Olympic movement - the ancient Olympia site in Greece Peloponnese Peninsula, to the vision of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" into reality...
The picture shows the aerial photo of "Snow Ruyi" on September 13, 2021. (Drone photo) China News Service reporter Zhai Yujia photo
Looking back at the moments in the preparation process for the Beijing Winter Olympics, China has been solid and steady at every step along the way.
Chinese athletes, ready to go
On February 3, the Chinese curling team's mixed doubles duo Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan defeated the Australians 6–5, their second victory at the Beijing Winter Olympics. On the evening of the 2nd, the duo defeated the PyeongChang Winter Olympic silver medalist Swiss combination Perrett /Rios to win the opening for the Chinese delegation.
Like them, China's ice and snow athletes are poised to cut through the thorns at home.
On February 3, the mixed doubles round robin tournament of the Beijing Winter Olympic Curling Event continued. The Chinese team Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan ushered in the challenge of the Australian players, and finally the two won 6:5 against the opponent, welcoming two consecutive wins. Photo by China News Service reporter Li Jun
As the host, the Beijing Winter Olympics is the largest winter Olympics in the history of Chinese sports delegations, with a total number of 387 participants, including 176 athletes.
Since the successful acquisition of the right to bid in 2015, many projects have achieved breakthroughs from scratch. After more than 6 years of hard work, the Chinese delegation completed the task of "participating in all 7 major events and 15 sub-events" of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, and won a total of 104 sub-events and 194 seats (including 4 "in-competition" sub-events that need to be reconfirmed by other minor results of the Beijing Winter Olympics), accounting for 95.4% of all 109 sub-events.
Image source: Gu Ailing Weibo.
Being able to achieve this achievement has condensed the efforts of countless Chinese ice and snowmen. The Chinese short track speed skating team led by Wu Dajing, Ren Ziwei and Fan Kexin is eager to continue the strength of the "Master of kings", "genius girl" Gu Ailing wants to touch the gold medal in the women's U-shaped field, slope obstacle course and big jump, and Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu, who went to the Winter Olympics for the fourth time, want to realize their dreams at the doorstep...
When everything is ready, it remains to be seen whether the Chinese athletes can create the best record in the history of the Chinese delegation in the History of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Amphibious robots and underwater variable structure robots. Courtesy of Shenyang Automation
Green Olympics, science and technology empowerment
Under the concept of "green, shared, open and clean", the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, which are blessed with science and technology, are full of modernity.
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the Beijing Winter Olympics will achieve full coverage of all venues "green electricity", fulfilling the promise of "green Olympics"; "technology empowers the Winter Olympics" is not only a slogan, all Winter Olympic venues and connecting venues have achieved 5G signal coverage, and smart spectators will bring immersive viewing experience to the audience.
In the Winter Olympic torch relay, "black technology" is eye-catching. The torchbearer relays the Winter Olympic torch to amphibious robots, who spin and slide into the water along the curling track with a flaming torch in hand. The underwater variable structure robot is close to it, and the two robots hold torches to achieve accurate docking in the water. The underwater variable structure robot comes out of the water from the mouth of the ice cave and passes the Olympic torch to the next torchbearer, and the whole process flows smoothly...
Beijing, January 30, rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was held, and fireworks bloomed over the bird's nest. Image source: People's Vision
The opening ceremony was full of highlights
On February 4, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics will be held at the National Stadium, which will continue the story of the mid-summer of 2008. "The way we ignite the fire, and even the way the torch stand, is one of our boldest designs and changes, and it has never been seen in the history of the Olympic Games in a hundred years." In the eyes of Zhang Yimou, director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympic games and the Winter Paralympic Games, the Beijing Winter Olympics will become the first grand event to "eat crabs", and the cultural self-confidence of the host is fully displayed.
The opening ceremony will be compressed to 100 minutes, explaining the profound connotation of "going to the future together" like a movie. "Simple and wonderful" may be the biggest feature of the opening ceremony, the number of participants in the Beijing Olympic Games has been reduced from about 15,000 to about 3,000, and more means are used to show.
Data chart: The picture shows the famous Chinese male singer Liu Huan and the famous British female singer Sarah Brightman singing the theme song of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games "you and me" in the center of the "Bird's Nest". Photo by Ren Chenming, reporter of China News Service
When the concept of low-carbon environmental protection, modern scientific and technological elements and host culture self-confidence are integrated in 100 minutes, this ice and snow feast symbolizes inheritance and is destined to go down in history.
After nearly 14 years, when the main Olympic torch was lit again at the "Bird's Nest", a fireworks show over the National Stadium broke through the silence of the night sky, ending 2380 days of waiting. (End)