Mixed start to Winter Olympics
On 4 February, the Beijing Winter Olympics opened with a spectacular ceremony. This signalled the start of the Games and in the first week there have been many highs and lows, as well as some controversy (public disagreement).
What happened at the opening ceremony?
The Winter Olympics started with an opening ceremony held in the National Stadium, also known as the “Bird’s Nest”, in Beijing, China’s capital.
The ceremony was organised by film director
Zhang Yimou and featured spectacular light shows and fireworks. One of the main themes was spring because it was held on the first day of spring in the Chinese calendar.
Has Covid-19 affected the Games?
There are rules in place, such as testing, wearing masks and limits on crowd numbers. The opening ceremony was smaller than usual because of Covid restrictions. However, the athletes were allowed to go along and they walked out into the stadium, led by someone carrying their country’s flag. At the end of the event, the Olympic cauldron was lit by athletes
Zhao Jiawen and Dinigeer Yilamujiang. The cauldron was shaped like a giant snowflake that was made up of smaller snowflakes, inside which were written the names of the countries taking part in the Games.
Who has won medals so far?
On 6 February, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, a 20-year-old snowboarder, made Olympic history by winning New Zealand’s first ever Winter Olympic gold medal. She came first in the women’s snowboard slopestyle, in which riders perform tricks and jumps over lots of ramps and obstacles. On her last run she pulled off a massive 1,080 jump (spinning around three times) to secure victory. On 7 February, 15-year-old Kamila Valieva, from Russia, stunned spectators during the team figure-skating by becoming the first woman to land a quadruple jump (spinning around four times in the air) at the Olympics. Her team won the gold. At the time The Week Junior went to press, Team GB had not won a medal.
What else has been happening?
There have been complaints from some athletes that there is no hot food where they are staying, that conditions on the mountains are dangerously cold, nd that some are being kept in Covid-19 isolation (away from other people so they do not catch the disease) for longer than they should be. People have also complained that most of the snow on the slopes is artificial because there is not enough real snow in the area. Snow made by machines uses lots of energy and water and is bad for the environment. Before the Games, several countries, including Australia, India, the US and the UK said their politicians would not go to the Games because of the way China treats some groups of people (see above). However, at the opening ceremony, the International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said, “In our fragile world, where division, conflict and mistrust are on the rise, the Olympic Games always build bridges.”