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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Part of 2022 Winter Paralympics | |
Date | 4 March 2022 |
---|---|
Time | 20:00 - 21:33 CST (UTC+8) |
Venue | Beijing National Stadium |
Location | Beijing, China |
Coordinates | 39°59′30″N 116°23′26″E |
Theme | "Blossoming of Life" |
Filmed by | Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) |
Footage | The ceremony on the IPC YouTube channel on YouTube |
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]
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]
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]
Flag bearers of the Paralympic Flag achieved the goal of "Combination of the Sound and the Disabled":
The representative of the oath taking were:
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]
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[update], 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]
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