At 8pm, on February 4th, 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games was officially started. Once again, the National Stadium, also known as “Bird’s Nest”, hosted the opening ceremony and exhibited a “streamlined, safe and splendid” event.
Almost 14 years ago, “Bird’s Nest” witnessed a joyful gathering of athletes from all over the world at the opening ceremony of 29th Summer Olympic Games, which was considered as "a grand, unprecedented success” in Olympic history. And this time, as well, Beijing did not fail the world. The attentive design, the expressive performance, and the inclusive atmosphere elaborated a wonderful and memorable evening.
But when preparing for this years’ Olympic Games, Chinese organizers did not have a favorable condition as last time. Since 2020, the threat of coronavirus pandemic is still here. The possibility of the success of such an event is being questioned. Besides, Chinese engineers are facing technological challenges and are withheld of crucial information. Moreover, some of the western politicians have been rude and “diplomatic boycott” is enticed by several western countries.
In a blaze of publicity, they used all kinds of excuses, most of which have nothing to do with sports. The razzle-dazzle of their speeches and articles range from political concerns, environmental issues, to public health worries. Kingsley Edney, a lecturer in Chinese politics at the University of Leeds, said it was unlikely that the Winter Olympics would improve China’s image. “It’s more of a risk,” he said. “I think it can go badly if there are some very negative stories that come out around the athletes on how they’re treated, the restrictions they face or anything related to Covid-19 in particular.” No wonder when this kind of “negative story” was released, they did not hesitate to embrace the idea of criticizing Chinese policy, rather than facing up squarely to the effectiveness of quarantine.
Some of the western critics even lavished words on regrets for China’s “lagging-behind” after Beijing Summer Olympic Games, for “Western countries engaged with China 14 years ago because they believed it would encourage China to liberalise.” It could not be more clearer that they are politicizing sports. And more to it, the selfish interest becomes the main driving force, rather than the responsibility and obligation, or the mutual respect and trustworthiness.
It is widely acknowledged that Olympic Games stand for the sports game of the highest level, but the spirit of the Olympic Games is not only to win. It is organized in a way of collective competition, but runs itself more like a festival and gala. After several years of hard training and anxious awaiting, the competitors should be the real leading characters, and the audiences no doubtedly, the supporting characters. Their experiences should be the stories, and their stories should be the memories. What the organizer could do is nothing more than building up the platform, clearing up the stage, and lustring to the performance. How could anyone, by misleading the public, to steal these wonderful moments from these important characters? An Olympic Dream is, and should always be, “A Shared Dream”, rather than a biased dream, or even a stolen dream.
By the opening ceremony, China proved its commitment to fulfill the obligation to the international Olympic family, its sense of responsibility as a major country, and its appreciation of this “share dream”. Just as president Xi mentioned, one day before the opening ceremony, “From ‘One World-One Dream’ in 2008 to ‘Together for a Shared Future’ in 2022, China has taken an active part in the Olympic movement and consistently championed the Olympic spirit.”
According the Chinese lunar calendar, the official starting date of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games happens to be the official beginning date of spring this year, and one thing we often do in spring is to sow the seeds, since wise men would never miss the best season. After two years’ of hardships and difficulties faced by the entire globe, it could be a time for us to sow understanding and sincerity. The fruit will definitely be profitable.
