The fire for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games 2022 in Beijing will be lit without the presence of spectators in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. The Olympic torch relay will also be shortened. The ceremony will take place on October 18 at Ancient Olympia on the Peloponnese in Greece.
The lighting ceremony will be attended by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach. After that, the Olympic flame will be transferred to the Athenian Acropolis, where it will stay overnight.
On October 19, the fire will be handed over to the Chinese delegation at the historic Panathinaikos Stadium, with skier Paraskevi Ladopoulou participating in the ceremony. After that, the fire will be delivered on a special charter flight to China. There, the relay race will continue until February 4, when the Beijing Olympics will open.
The National Olympic Committee of Greece has abandoned the traditional briefing, which introduces the artistic director of the lighting ceremony and the high priestess, as well as torchbearers.
On March 12, 2020, a fire lighting ceremony was held for the XXXII Summer Olympic Games, which were held in Tokyo. The event was held behind closed doors due to the threat of the spread of coronavirus in Ancient Olympia. It was attended only by official delegations and the leadership of the Hellenic Republic, as well as journalists.
Traditionally, the ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame takes place in the homeland of the Games, in Ancient Olympia. The ceremony is usually attended by eleven priestesses in traditional white Greek dresses. You need to light the torch from a solar lens at the site of the remains of the temple of the goddess Hera.
On October 4, the organizing committee of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing allowed athletes vaccinated with Russian vaccines to participate in the competition. To participate, you must complete the full course of vaccination.
On September 30, it was reported that foreign fans would not be admitted to the Beijing Winter Olympics. Tickets will only be sold to residents of China. These measures are planned to be introduced in order to ensure the safe conduct of the Olympics.
Conditions for issuing tickets for the competition will be published later. Vaccinated athletes will be admitted to the Olympic Games without mandatory quarantine. Unvaccinated athletes will be required to self-isolate for 21 days. Cases of medical withdrawal from participants will be considered in a separate order.
The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from 4 to 20 February, according to preliminary data, over 3 thousand athletes from 95 countries will take part in it. 109 sets of awards will be played on it.