Here comes the Winter Olympics opening day

And this year’s Winter Olympics has certainly had its fair share.

The build-up has been somewhat overshadowed by diplomatic boycotts, concerns over China’s human rights record, the treatment of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai and, of course, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

However, despite a troubled road to the games, Beijing is set become the first city to stage both the Summer and Winter Olympics, with the cauldron officially ignited at the iconic Beijing International (Bird’s Nest) Stadium.

As with most opening ceremonies, there will be welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation’s culture and modern history.

The spectacle will be headed by Zhang Yimou, the director responsible for creating the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing — generally considered one of the best in history.

However, this event will be considerably shorter than that, featuring roughly 3,000 artists – compared to 15,000 from 2008 – due to the cold weather and Covid restrictions.

It will feature three major themes: world peace, the Olympic legacy and Beijing 2022’s motto “Together for a Shared Future”.

Over the next 16 days, winter sports fans can expect thrills, spills and plenty of adrenalin-fuelled action in and around the Chinese capital.

We will see the Olympic debut of seven new events: Women’s Monobob, Men’s and Women’s Big Air (Freestyle Skiing), Mixed Team Snowboard Cross, Mixed Team Aerials, Mixed Team Short Track Relay, and Mixed Team Ski Jumping.

In total, there will be 109 medal events across 15 sports. And while it will be great to watch amazing performances from world-class athletes going for gold, we would all like a bit of British