2022_Winter_Paralympics_opening_ceremony

2022 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony

2022 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony

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The opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Paralympics took place on 4 March 2022 at the Beijing National Stadium (also known as "Bird's Nest")[1] in Beijing, China. The Games were opened by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China.

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Preparations

The Beijing National Stadium where the opening ceremony was held.

The site of the opening ceremony, the Beijing National Stadium, was redeveloped in preparation for the ceremonies of both the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Paralympics.[2][3][4]

Announcers (masters of ceremony)

Proceedings

The ceremony, directed by Zhang Yimou,[2] had the theme "Blossoming of Life"[6] and began at 20:00 CST (UTC+8) in the Beijing National Stadium.[7][8][9] The games were opened by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China,[6] and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons were in attendance.[10] As well as representing the IPC, Parsons represented the International Olympic Committee in the absence of president Thomas Bach who tested positive for COVID-19.[6]

The curling rink: Countdown performance

Entry of the National flag

Parade of Nations

See also: 2022 Winter Paralympics Parade of Nations

Reactions to Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from participating after the countries' invasion of Ukraine.[1] During the ceremony, Parsons did not mention Russia by name, but he publicly declared his horror at the fighting in Ukraine and called on world authorities to promote peace.[1][11]

Entry of Paralympic Flag

Flag bearers of the Paralympic Flag achieved the goal of "Combination of the Sound and the Disabled":

Oath taking

The representative of the oath taking were:

Arrival and lighting of the Paralympic flame

See also: 2022 Winter Paralympics torch relay

Torch bearers in the National Stadium on the opening ceremony were:

Visually-impaired Paralympic champion Li Duan (李端), who won gold medals at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, which was also held in Beijing, lit the cauldron, becoming the third visually impaired person to light the Paralympics cauldron at the Opening Ceremonies.[12]

Dignitaries in attendance

Host nation dignitaries

Dignitaries from International organizations

Anthems

Controversy

Parsons's speech about how he was "horrified at what is taking place in the world right now", which implied the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, was not translated and muted by China Central Television (CCTV).[15][16] The IPC later asked CCTV to explain why the speech was not translated and muted.[17] As of 12 March 2022, the IPC has not yet received an update from CCTV,[18] and Parson's speech was completely cut on replay from CCTV's official website later.[19] In addition, Parson's reaction for Ukraine National Team during the Parade of Nation also been cut and replaced by other scene on CCTV's opening ceremony live.[20]

In his speech, Parsons wrongly referred Xi Jinping as the president of the Republic of China, which is the official name of Taiwan and recognized as part of People's Republic of China in Mainland China. Parsons later apologized for this.[21]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Moritsugu, Ken (4 March 2022). "As war rages, Paralympics open in Beijing without Russia". Associated Press. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  2. [2]
    Burke, Patrick (23 January 2022). "Full rehearsal held for Opening Ceremony of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  3. [3]
    Ma, Zhen; Katz, Teddy. "Beijing 2022 assures a Winter Games spectacle". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  4. [4]
    Houston, Michael (31 July 2021). "Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony stadium to complete transformation in October". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  5. [5]
    Zhao Ying [@ZhaoYing_CRI] (5 March 2022). "I'm soooooo honored to be the announcer at the #OpeningCeremony of the #Beijing2022 #Paralympics!This is so special especially during this time of uncertainties. Wish all the athletes enjoy their stay in Beijing, and enjoy the games! Change starts with sports. #paralympics2022 https://t.co/DGHyysb7Xe" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022 – via Twitter.
  6. [6]
    Barker, Phillip (3 March 2022). "Chinese President set to open Winter Paralympics with all eyes on Parsons' speech". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  7. [7]
    Prashant, ND (3 March 2022). "Excitement mounts as Beijing gears up for Opening". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  8. [8]
    "Beijing 2022 Venues". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  9. [9]
    Pavitt, Michael (3 March 2022). "Countdown to Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics Opening Ceremony". www.insidethegames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  10. [10]
    "As war rages, Paralympics opening in Beijing without Russia". The Independent. Associated Press. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  11. [11]
    "Highlights from the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing". NPR. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  12. [12]
    "Paralympic Opening Ceremony highlighted by bold call for peace". 4 March 2022.
  13. [13]
    IOC MEDIA [@iocmedia] (20 February 2022). "In a call this week, IOC President Thomas Bach and International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons agreed President Bach would not attend the Beijing 2022 Winter #Paralympics. President Bach wished President Parsons and the competing Paralympians well for the event" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via Twitter.
  14. [14]
    Iveson, Ali (2 March 2022). "IOC vice-president Ng to miss Beijing 2022 Paralympics with COVID-19". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  15. [15]
    "China Censors Paralympics Opening Ceremony, Premier League Over Ukraine". The Wall Street Journal. 4 March 2022.
  16. [16]
    "Opening ceremony speech by IPC president Andrew Parsons at Winter Paralympics censored in China". The Associated Press. 4 March 2022.
  17. [17]
    "Beijing censors Beijing Paralympic opening speech". AFP. 6 March 2022.
  18. [18]
    Burke, Patrick (12 March 2022). "IPC still awaiting update from CCTV over Parsons speech translation controversy". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  19. [19]
    Harker, Gerry (7 March 2022). "China censors anti-war comments during Paralympics opening ceremony". SupChina. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  20. [20]
    "Pechino, inaugurate le Paralimpiadi. La tv cinese censura l'appello per la pace in Ucraina". Rai News. 4 March 2022. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  21. [21]
    "IPC apologises after Parsons mistakenly refers to Xi as "President of the Republic of China"". Inside the Games. 5 March 2022.
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