The opening ceremonies revisited

 It's been a few days now, so there's been plenty of time to reflect on the Opening Ceremonies.

As I've written here numerous times over the past few months, I had missed out on all the previous Opening Ceremonies for one reason or another. So this was the chance I had been waiting for.

And it lived up to the hype, at least in my mind. Yes, it was much more subdued than the ceremonies that Beijing brought to the world to open up the Summer Games back in 2008. I don't think anyone expected the spectacle that those ceremonies brought. It's different times, with COVID still a thing and the world still recovering from a pandemic, it was expected that things would be a bit more toned down.

That was OK. The parade of athletes was something to behold and the athletes moved into the stands after marching in and by the time the host nation, China, which is traditionally the last group of athletes to enter the stadium, came in, it seemed like a pretty full house at the Bird's Nest, the iconic stadium that also played host to the aforementioned 2008 Opening Ceremonies.

That being said, it was still a spectacle. The preshow included hundreds upon hundreds of dancers across the stadium floor and the ceremony concluded with a dramatic torch lighting, as different Chinese Olympic luminaries carried the torch around the stadium and eventually lit it inside a giant snowflake, which itself was comprised of the snowflakes carried in ahead of each country as they entered the stadium. The snowflake was then suspended mid-air with the torch in the middle as fireworks blasted off the top of the stadium.

As I wrote before the ceremonies, I was there plenty early enough, but we still had to cram in buses to get back to the media center when the night was over. It was also nice to find a bag filled with Beijing 2022 items on our seats, with a hat, gloves (both of which I brought with me anyway), blanket, seat pad and more. It was plenty cold in the stadium, so the seat pad was a welcome touch. 

All told, I am not complaining. I did something that's been one my bucket list for a long time and yes, it was cold. But I've spent hours standing on the side of a mountain shooting alpine races, so the cold is just something I know how to deal with.

This is an Olympics like no other in many ways. At least this way was a positive way in my book.

The Olympic flame is suspended in mid-air in the center of the snowflake as fireworks shoot from the top of the Bird's Nest.