Producer bows in apology after an Olympic ring fails to light at Chinese Games

One of the Olympic rings failed to light during the opening ceremony of the 13th Chinese National Games in North China’s Tianjin Municipality on Sunday night, a replay of the malfunction which occurred during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Chen Hong, the producer of the opening ceremony, bowed in apology at a press conference held after only four of the rings were illuminated at the ceremony, ifeng. com reported on Sunday.

Meng Ke, the chief director of the ceremony, explained that heavy rainfall before the ceremony led to a short circuit in the switch controlling the rings, according to the ifeng. com report.

“All things were considered except for the one accident, which was a great pity. The weather led to a short circuit of a switch. However, I still want to extend my most heartfelt thanks to all the performers in the ceremony,” said Meng.

The 3D holographic projection technology used in the opening ceremony was borrowed from the Winter Olym- pics in Sochi, said the report.

The opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics had planned to light the five rings in such a way that they would resemble snowflakes blossoming in the air. However, the last snowflake failed to blossom, which left only four rings lit, according to the report.

Most Chinese netizens said that they could understand why this problem happened as the heavy rain was a factor over which the organizers had no control, while others joked that the four rings resembled the Audi logo.