Beijing 2022: Winter Olympics opening ceremony

The official opening ceremony of the 24^th Winter Olympic Games was held in Beijing on 4 February. The festive show and the opening ceremony took place at the National Stadium which is also known as the Bird's Nest. 

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was colorful and memorable. The organizers wowed everyone with a laser show, spectacular performances. Everyone was amazed by the installation of ninety-one snowflake (according to the number of participating countries) that ‘landed’ on the stadium and the LED structures with the names of the countries participating in the Olympics, including Belarus!

The main part of the show was the Parade of Nations. Due to COVID restrictions, it did not last long, but all the teams tried to present their country as attractively as possible. By tradition, the parade was opened by Greece. The parade featured 91 teams, and the most impressive delegation was from China. The host country's team included 387 people, including 176 athletes.

The flag bearers for Team Belarus were speed skaters Anna Nifontova and Ignat Golovatsiuk. The team walked into the stadium the 22nd.  

By tradition, the Olympic Oath was pronounced.

Xi Jinping declared the 2022 Winter Olympics open. The Chinese leader wished success to all participants and guests of the Olympiad.

In Beijing Belarusian athletes will compete in six sports: biathlon, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, speed skating, figure skating, and freestyle skiing. For Belarus, this is the eighth Winter Games in its sovereign history. Belarus made its Olympic debut as a sovereign nation at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Belarusians won three medals (two gold and silver), placing 15th in the overall medal scoreboard. All in all, Team Belarus won 18 medals at seven Winter Games: eight gold, five silver and five bronze medals. The best result was the 8th place in Sochi in 2014 with six medals (five gold and one bronze medals).

According to the organizers, about 4,000 athletes from 91 countries will take part in the Olympic Games in Beijing. A total of 109 medal events will be held in 15 disciplines in seven sports. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 20 February and will be held at the Beijing National Stadium, which seats 91,000 spectators. It hosted the competitions of the 29^th Summer Olympic Games in 2008, too.

The Olympics will be held at 25 venues located in three clusters: Beijing, Zhangjiakou and Yanqing. Medal events will he held in seven sports in 109 disciplines. Women's slopestyle (freestyle), men's and women's big air (snowboarding), mixed relay in short track and women's individual races in bobsleigh will make their Olympic debut in Beijing. The mascot of the Winter Olympics is Bing Dwen Dwen.