February 4, 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics news and results

By Aditi Sangal, Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Ben Church, Patrick Sung and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 8:06 p.m. ET, February 4, 2022
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2:04 p.m. ET, February 4, 2022

CNN answers some of your top Winter Olympics 2022 questions

From CNN's Ben Morse

Here are answers to some of the burning questions you might have about the 24th Winter Games.

How many athletes compete in the Winter Olympics?

There are 91 delegations competing for 109 gold medals across seven sports in Beijing.

According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), there will be about 2,900 athletes doing their best in their selected disciplines.

What is skeleton?

One of the most interesting names in the sporting lexicon, skeleton is a fan favorite at the Winter Olympics.

With its roots in sleighing, athletes participate on the same track across two days, getting four runs each. The competitor with the fastest combined time wins the event.

It fell in and out of the Olympic program for a number of years, before it was reintroduced at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics.

Read more here on frequently asked questions.

11:26 a.m. ET, February 4, 2022

One of the athletes lighting the Olympic cauldron was a Uyghur. Here's why that matters

From journalist Joshua Berlinger in Paris

Chinese torchbearers Dinigeer Yilamujian (L) and Zhao Jiawen wave with the Olympic flame in the middle of a giant snowflake during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Chinese torchbearers Dinigeer Yilamujian (L) and Zhao Jiawen wave with the Olympic flame in the middle of a giant snowflake during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images)

To light the Olympic cauldron, China chose two athletes: skiers Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Zhao Jiawen.

Like the rest of the highly choreographed ceremony, the choice of Dinigeer and Zhao appears symbolic and deliberate. Dinigeer is a Uyghur, an ethnic minority in China's far west region of Xinjiang — where China has been accused of massive human rights violations. The United States and United Kingdom have gone so far as to accuse the Chinese government of genocide against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.

The US State Department estimates that up to two million people have been detained in internment camps in Xinjiang since 2017. China says the camps are vocational training centers, aimed at combating terrorism and separatism, and has repeatedly denied accusations of human rights abuses in the region.

Many Western countries refused to send official delegations to Beijing for the Games due to the allegations of widespread rights violations in Xinjiang.

The decision to pair Dinigeer and Zhao — who is of Han decent, the dominant ethnicity in China — could be a propaganda display, as the ceremony was big on displays of ethnic unity. In addition to the pairing of Zhao and Dinigeer, members of China's 56 official ethnic groups joined to display the flag of the People's Republic.

China has, in recent years, deployed an all-out propaganda effort to shift the narrative in Xinjiang that includes sending state media reporters to the region to supposedly "prove" there is no oppression there and targeting Beijing's critics overseas.

10:47 a.m. ET, February 4, 2022

Beijing is first city to host both Summer and Winter Olympics

Drummers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China.
Drummers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Beijing is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. It held the Summer Games back in 2008 and won the host bid for the 2022 Winter Games in 2015.

Athens, Paris, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo have all hosted the Summer Games more than once, according to the Olympics website.

Beijing's National Stadium, commonly referred to as the Bird's Nest, also is the first venue to host opening and closing ceremonies for both the Summer and Winter Olympics. In 2008, the stadium was used for competitions, but this year, it will be only used for the ceremonies, according to the site.

The torch connects the two Games as well, according to the site:

"To honour Beijing’s status as the world’s first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, the 2022 torch features a similar design to the 2008 Games’ main cauldron, which resembled a giant scroll, highlighting the Olympic spirit’s legacy in the Chinese capital."
10:39 a.m. ET, February 4, 2022

The IOC is prioritizing business and "standing next to the authoritarians," Chinese artist says

From CNN's Jacqui Palumbo, Christiane Amanpour and Henry Hullah

Chinese dissident artist and activist Ai Weiwei is seen outside the Royal Courts of Justice on October 27 in London, England.
Chinese dissident artist and activist Ai Weiwei is seen outside the Royal Courts of Justice on October 27 in London, England. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

As the Beijing Winter Olympics gets underway, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is once again criticizing China's ruling Communist Party — and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which he said is "ignoring" the safety of the country's athletes by prioritizing business and "standing next to the authoritarians."

The IOC "never remained as a neutral position. They’re always standing next to the authoritarians, or business – business is the first target for them," he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "Since the 2008 Olympics, they have been working with the government’s propaganda, and this time they’re even more. They are, you know, ignoring the top athletes’ from China’s safety and wellbeing, but rather to be part of a state of propaganda, which is, it’s pretty sad."

The world-renowned Chinese dissident and rights activist has been living in self-exile in Portugal since 2021. Fearing for his safety were he to return to China, where he was once detained for 81 days for "inciting the subversion of state power," Ai has resided around Europe for almost seven years.

Years prior to his departure from his home country, Ai famously consulted on the design of the venue hosting Friday night's opening ceremony: The Beijing National Stadium, or "Bird's Nest."

The open-roofed structure, wrapped in interwoven steel structs, functioned as one of the main venues for the Summer Olympics in 2008. A collaboration with Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, the stadium took five years to build and was designed to represent a new, modern China.

But the artist distanced himself from the project and criticized China's hosting of the Olympics ahead of the opening ceremony, believing it to be a propaganda tool at odds with what he felt were the oppressive realities of life in the country.

"Unfortunately, as an architect, you cannot control how the building is being used," Ai told Amanpour in the interview, which airs Friday. "For me it's a big disappointment, not only in how it's being used but also in the directions China (has taken) in past decades."

10:22 a.m. ET, February 4, 2022

The Beijing Winter Olympics begin following a string of diplomatic boycotts

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

A number of countries have boycotted the Beijing Winter Olympics. This means that while their athletes compete in the Games, their government officials will not be present in the country as is common practice.

Here are some countries that are boycotting the Games for different reasons.

United States: A “record number” of 177 US athletes walked at the Opening Ceremony, despite the Biden administration's boycott of the Games in December as a statement against China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang."

Australia, United Kingdom and Canada: The three countries followed the US and announced a diplomatic boycott.

Japan: While it stopped short of calling the decision a boycott, the government also announced in December that it will not be sending Cabinet ministers or senior officials to the Games, saying Japan “believes that respect for human rights is important. We made a decision comprehensively.”

India: The country announced a diplomatic boycott on Thursday after China decided to make a soldier involved in the June 2020 Galwan clashes as the torchbearer. 

Public broadcaster Doordarshan also announced it will not telecast the opening and closing ceremonies live. India has one athlete, skier Arif Khan, is participating at the Olympics. 

In June 2020, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a bloody brawl with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley, close to Aksai Chin, an area controlled by China but claimed by both countries. It is unclear if or how many Chinese soldiers died. Both sides have accused the other of overstepping the de facto border, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that runs along the western sector of the valley. 

Taiwan: The self-governing island, which diplomatically boycotted the Games, is a flourishing democracy, but the mainland's ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to view the island as an inseparable part of its territory — despite having never controlled it. Today, relations between Taipei and Beijing are at their lowest point in decades.

When the Taiwan team entered the stadium, the Olympic live commentary announced “Chinese Taipei” – Taiwan’s official name in the Olympics. Chinese state media CCTV, however, introduced the team as “China Taipei” – a designation that implies the island is part of China. 

10:09 a.m. ET, February 4, 2022

The Olympic cauldron has been lit, marking the official start of the 2022 Winter Games

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

Torch bearers Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Jiawen Zhao of Team China hold the Olympic flame during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China.
Torch bearers Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Jiawen Zhao of Team China hold the Olympic flame during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Seven torchbearers carried six torches in the final torch relay inside the Bird's Nest.

All the torchbearers are Chinese winter sport athletes born in sequential decades – the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and the last two torchbearers from the 2000s. The sequential order is meant to show the continuity of winter sports across generations.

Here are the athletes who served as torchbearers:

  • 1980 Olympian Zhao Weichang, speed skating
  • 1992 Olympic silver medalist Li Yan, short track
  • Two-time Olympic gold medalist Yang Yang, short track
  • 2020 Olympian Su Bingtian, track and field
  • Three-time Olympic gold medalist Zhou Yang, short track

The last torch was shared by two 2022 Olympians —Yilamujiang Dinigeer, a cross-country skier from Xinjiang, and Zhao Jiawen, a Nordic Combined athlete — to celebrate gender equality. They lit the Olympic cauldron together.

The lighting of the Olympic cauldron marks the official beginning of the Winter Games and the end of Friday's Opening Ceremony.

9:33 a.m. ET, February 4, 2022

Olympic flag raised inside the stadium

From CNN's Ben Church

Performers carry the Olympic flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China.
Performers carry the Olympic flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

As the Opening Ceremony draws to its conclusion, the Olympic flag arrives inside the Bird's Nest stadium.

Six athletes take their time in walking the flag across the floor to the flagpoles at one end. They walk between the motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together" which is beamed all over the stadium floor.

A group of 40 children sing the Olympic anthem as the flag is raised slowly in front of the crowd.

8:55 a.m. ET, February 4, 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping declares the Beijing Winter Olympics open

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Beijing Winter Olympics open after a speech from International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

This was followed by a show of fireworks.

8:54 a.m. ET, February 4, 2022

IOC president Thomas Bach thanks Chinese people for warm welcome

From CNN's Ben Church

Thomas Bach, IOC President makes a speech during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China.
Thomas Bach, IOC President makes a speech during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach uses his official speech to thank the Chinese people for welcoming the Winter Olympics so warmly.

Bach's messages go down well with the crowd who cheer enthusiastically.

The 68-year-old also addressed the Covid-19 pandemic and thanked scientists for going "above and beyond" to make the Games possible.

The IOC has come under fierce criticism in regards to China's human rights record and Bach told the stadium, and the millions around the world watching, that the Olympics stood for a world with "no discrimination whatsoever" and urged people to "give peace a chance."