Beijing Winter Olympics: British hopes high as curtain to lift on winter spectacular

The 2022 Winter Olympics were kicking off in Beijing on Friday with a glittering opening ceremony officially raising the curtain on one of the world’s biggest sporting spectacles.

Around 4,000 performers were set to take part in the event at the Beijing National Stadium, better known as the Bird’s Nest - as the Chinese capital became the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.

Curler Eve Muirhead and alpine skier Dave Ryding were set to lead Team GB into the arena for the ceremony at midday on Friday, UK time, directed by the Oscar-nominated film maker Zhang Yimou.

Almost 3,000 athletes from 91 countries are competing, with Haiti and Saudi Arabia being represented for the first time. They will compete in a record 109 events across seven sports: Biathalon, Bobsledding, Curling, Ice Hockey, Luge, Skating and Skiing.

Like last year’s Summer Games in Tokyo, the shadow of Covid looms large over the event. Foreign spectators are barred and tickets are not on sale to the general public, with groups of local people being “invited” to individual competitions. Overseas participants will be confined to strict “bubbles”, as will local support workers, including volunteers, cooks and drivers.

The build-up to the Games has also been fraught with political tensions over allegations of human rights abuses and boycotts.

Senior officials from the US, the UK and more than a dozen other governments have refused to attend in protest over China’s human rights record.

Team GB has sent 50 athletes and reserves to the Games - and is hoping to match or even beat the record five medals set at Sochi in 2014 and equalled in PyeongChang in 2018.

Among them is bobsledder Montell Douglas, who will make history as Great Britain’s first