BURNING BRIGHT

By Lu Yan

The Olympic flame was ignited on October 18， in Ancient Olympia， Greece， marking a milestone for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Present at the flame lighting ceremony was Yu Zaiqing， a special representative of Beijing 2022， who also witnessed years ago such a ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. Hosting the Winter Olympics makes Beijing the first ever city to host both the Summer and Winter Games， he said at this ceremony. “There may be more cities like this in the future， but Beijing being the first bears extraordinary significance，” he told Xinhua News Agency.

The flame was then handed over by the Hellenic Olympic Committee to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games （BOCOG） on October 19 at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The Beijing 2022 representatives boarded a flight to take the flame back to Beijing on the same day.

“The traditional ceremony is inherited from ancient times. It represents light， justice， peace and unity， and is the noble symbol of the Olympic spirit，” said Yu， who is also BOCOGs vice president.

A series of activities， including torch relays， began after the Olympic flame arrived in China two days later.“Its arrival signifies that the preparations for the Winter Olympics have entered the final sprint，” Yu said.

Test events

The Beijing 2022 Games will kick off on February 4， 2022. The date falls on the fourth day of the first lunar month， during Chinas Spring Festival holiday， the most important traditional festival for the Chinese people. The Games will last until February 20. The Paralympic Games will run from March 4 to 13， 2022.

During the upcoming Games， 2，892 athletes from all over the world will compete in 109 medal events over 15 disciplines in seven sports. Seven new events have been added to the Olympic program since the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018， including womens monobob， short track speed skating mixed team relay， and ski jumping mixed team.

“The other goal is to realize gender equality. This Winter Olympics will see the most female athletes in history，”said Tong Lixin， head of the BOCOGs sports department. According to Tong， a total of 1，314 female athletes will attend the Beijing 2022 Games， constituting 45.2 percent of the total and a record high in Winter Olympic history.

From October 5 until the end of December， 10 international competitions， three training weeks and two domestic trials will be organized in order to test all elements of the Games across the three competition zones， namely downtown Beijing， Yanqing District in Beijings northern suburbs， and Zhangjiakou， a city in Hebei Province that neighbors Beijing. All venues for ice sports competitions are located in downtown Beijing.