The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing are officially underway after athletes marched through the Bird’s Nest stadium as part of the opening ceremony on Friday.
The shortened and scaled down event was promised to be a “spectacle” by organizers, despite fewer people in the stands and in the parade of nations thanks to both COVID-19 and a diplomatic boycott by several Western nations — including Canada. Read more: Canada begins gold medal quest at 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing In 2008, the last time China hosted the Olympics, the opening ceremony to the Summer Games lasted for more than four hours, with over 15,000 participants including a massive sea of drummers and capped with a majestic fireworks display.
This year’s ceremony was different. Participants were slashed to just 4,000 to limit the spread of COVID-19, and the show clocked in at about two hours due to the colder February weather.
Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and India, among other nations, joined a diplomatic boycott, meaning no delegation supported athletes from the stands.