Celebration in the “Bird’s Nest” stadium: Olympic Games in Beijing opened

The 24th Olympic Winter Games have begun: Chinese President Xi spoke the traditional greeting. The games are not only taking place under special circumstances because of the pandemic.

Under pandemic conditions, the Winter Olympics have officially started in Beijing. China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping gave the starting signal for the games with the traditional formula “I declare the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in Beijing open”. Beijing is now the first city to host both Winter and Summer Games.

The German athletes were led by speed skater Claudia Pechstein and bobsleigh pilot Francesco Friedrich. Despite the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, almost 2,900 athletes from 91 nations will start at the games in Beijing and in the mountains of Zhangjiakou and Yanqing, 200 kilometers away. Medals are awarded in 109 competitions.

Diplomatic boycott of several states

As the highest foreign state guest, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin accepted the invitation of his ally Xi and attended the opening ceremony. Most Western countries have refrained from sending top politicians to the opening ceremony. The USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and other countries had even announced a diplomatic boycott in protest against human rights violations in China.

Germany had not officially followed this step. Neither Secretary of State Annalena Baerbock nor Secretary of the Interior Nancy Faeser, who is responsible for sports, traveled to Beijing.

Strict rules because of Corona

The games last until February 20th. During the competitions in Beijing, only selected visitors are allowed in the stadiums. No spectators are allowed to come from abroad.

Due to the corona restrictions, all participants – in addition to the athletes, also tens of thousands of employees, volunteers and journalists – are only allowed to stay in an “Olympic bubble” that is shielded from the outside world. Nevertheless, according to the organizers, hundreds of corona cases have already been identified within this “bubble”.