The opening ceremony of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, which took place at the Bird’s Nest stadium, ended yesterday.
The concept of the event was developed by Cannes and Venice festival winner, three-time Oscar nominee director and producer Zhang Yimou.
The ceremony began with the raising of the national flag of the People’s Republic of China, after which fireworks went off, and a huge block of ice with the image of winter sports was rolled into the arena, MIA reports.
The opening was attended by 91 delegations of athletes from all over the world.
The Belarusian delegation was represented by 29 athletes in 6 sports – biathlon, speed skating, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, figure skating and alpine skiing.
The Russian team proceeded under the 46th number.
The intrigue of the Olympics
It is known that Western politicians expressed a desire to boycott the spectacle and even declared a diplomatic boycott, to which the Chinese side at one time responded that the main characters of the event are not politicians, but athletes.
And yet, the opening of the games was attended by the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, the head of the Olympic organizing committee Cai Qi, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the ruler of Luxembourg Grand Duke Henri, Prince Albert II of Monaco, the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, the Prime Minister Pakistan, the King of Cambodia, the head of Singapore, the Prime Minister of Mongolia, the Thai Princess, the President of Egypt, the Emir of Qatar, the Crown Princes of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The only ones missing were the initiators of the diplomatic boycott – representatives of Washington and their colleagues from Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Olympics will end on February 20.
