Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: Alpine skier Mohammad Arif Khan held the Indian flag as he made his way in the Parade of Nations during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Friday here at the National Stadium also known as Bird’s Nest in Beijing. Follow Insidesport.IN For more updates
Mohammad Arif Khan is India’s sole representative in Beijing 2022. India was the 23rd country in the Parade of Nations at Beijing. This year, for the first time in Winter Olympics history, each nation had two flag bearers – one man and one woman.
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: Alpine skier Mohammad Arif Khan leads India’s way at opening ceremony
Also read: Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: Beijing Olympics opening ceremony starts under cloud of Covid, rights fears
Indian alpine skier Arif Khan, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, is the first-ever Indian athlete to directly qualify for two different events at a single edition of the Winter Games.
He will be competing in the giant slalom event on February 13 and slalom on February 16.
Celebrated Chinese film-maker and three-time Academy Award nominee Zhang Yimou, who also led the Beijing 2008 Summer Games opening and closing ceremonies, directed the opening ceremony for Beijing 2022.
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: Alpine skier Mohammad Arif Khan leads India’s way at opening ceremony
The lattice-shaped “Bird’s Nest” stadium took centre stage, just as it did at the 2008 Games — seen as China’s coming-out party on the world stage — as Beijing becomes the first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics.
The opening ceremony was attended by President Xi Jinping, under whose rule China has adopted a more muscular attitude internationally compared to 14 years ago.
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: Alpine skier Mohammad Arif Khan leads India’s way at opening ceremony
Xi, who will declare the Games officially open, will be joined by more than 20 world leaders including Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two presidents having met earlier in the day.
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: China and Russia have both seen ties with Washington deteriorate markedly, and with tensions rising in Europe over Russia’s troop build-up on the Ukrainian border, Putin hailed the “truly unprecedented nature” of relations with his hosts.
The United States, Britain, Canada and Australia are among countries staging a diplomatic boycott of the Games over China’s rights record, particularly the fate of the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: Alpine skier Mohammad Arif Khan leads India’s way at opening ceremony
Watching the fireworks of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games at home, it’s so beautiful.@Olympics pic.twitter.com/8IGEql0ifY
— Manba (@RockyMate666) February 4, 2022
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: Alpine skier Mohammad Arif Khan leads India’s way at opening ceremony
Their athletes will still compete at the Games, which run until February 20 and are taking place inside a vast “closed loop” designed to thwart the virus.
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