Success, set off! Olympic fire ignited for Beijing again

　　At noon on the 18th, local time in Greece, the tinder for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was successfully collected at the ancient Olympia site on the Peloponnese Peninsula, the birthplace of the Olympic movement.

　　The Olympic flame symbolizes light, unity, friendship, peace and justice.

The Olympic flame is usually lit in front of the Temple of Hera at the site of Olympia, Greece, a few months before the opening of the Olympic Games.

　　The modern Olympic fire collection method follows the ancient Greek tradition. The highest priestess concentrated the sunlight in the center of the concave mirror in front of the Temple of Hera to generate high temperature and ignite the fire. The whole process was solemn and solemn.

　　After the collection was successful, the fire was placed in an ancient brazier and brought to the altar in the ancient Olympic stadium by the highest priestess.

Subsequently, the highest priestess will light the torch in the hand of the first torchbearer and begin its journey to the city where the Olympics will be held.

　　The fire gathering ceremony for the Beijing Winter Olympics took place at noon on the 18th local time.

Since the fire-gathering ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, Sansi-Georgeou continues to play the role of the supreme priestess this time.

　　In front of the 2500-year-old Hera Temple site, George U prayed to Apollo, the god of light, and used the concave mirror to light the holy fire to complete the fire collection.

It is worth mentioning that the first torch gathering ceremony attended by George U was the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

　　After a dance performance, the highest priestess passed the lit torch and the olive branch symbolizing peace and glory to the first torchbearer, the Greek skier Antonius, who also became the first torchbearer of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

　　Antonius participated in the giant slalom event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and served as the flag bearer of the closing ceremony of the Greek delegation.

　　Antonius, 26, was born in a family of sports and his parents are both sports teachers.

In 1999, when he was only 4 years old, he began to practice skiing and has participated in more than 300 international competitions.

In the 2012 World Youth Championship in Italy, he won two bronze medals.

　　This torch gathering ceremony is the second time Antoni U has raised the flame of the Winter Olympics in the ancient Olympia arena. Eight years ago, Antoni U, who was under 20 years old, also participated in the ceremony of gathering the torch of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

　　After going to the monument to Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, Antonius passed the Beijing Winter Olympics tinder to the Chinese short-track speed skating star Li Jiajun. This is also the first time the Beijing Winter Olympics tinder has been passed.

　　As the benchmark of Chinese men's short track speed skating, in 1996, Li Jiajun made his debut in an international competition and won the men's 1000m championship in the Hager World Cup in the Netherlands.

Since then, at the 1999 World Championships in Sofia, he won the 500m championship and became the first Chinese athlete to win the all-around men's short track speed skating championship.

　　In the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, Li Jiajun won the silver medal in the 1,000 meters and became the first male short-track speed skater in China to win a medal in the Winter Olympics.

Four years later, at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in the United States, he won the silver medal in the 1500 meters, and cooperated with his teammates to win the bronze medal in the 5000 meters relay.

　　Greek President Sacralopoulou, International Olympic Committee President Bach, Greek Olympic Committee President Capraros, and Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee Vice Chairman Yu Zaiqing attended the gathering ceremony on the same day.

　　IOC President Bach said in his speech: "At this difficult time, we are all looking forward to the arrival of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Olympics allows us to be together in a peaceful, friendly and united manner, and to better communicate and communicate with each other. Understand. The Beijing Winter Olympics fire will spread from our spiritual home, the ancient Greek Olympic site, to Beijing and to the world."

　　For the sake of epidemic prevention, the Beijing Winter Olympics fire will not be delivered within Greece, but will be directly shipped to Athens.

The last torchbearer in Greece will be the country’s female skier Paraskevi Radoplu.

　　As a famous cross-country skier in Greece, Ladopulu, who is 41 years old this year, also successfully qualified for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Greek President Sacraropoulou (left), International Olympic Committee President Bach (right)

　　According to the plan, the Tinder for the Beijing Winter Olympics will be transferred from the Greek Olympic Committee to the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee at the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens on the 19th local time.

The working team of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee will take the flight to bring the tinder back to China on the same day.

　　The silver and red Beijing Winter Olympic torch "flying" symbolizes "a meeting between ice and fire, passion flying, illuminating the ice and snow, and warming the world".

Now, at a critical moment, with only 109 days left before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, it finally ushered in the highest symbol of the Olympic spirit.

　　From this moment on, "Flying" and the Beijing Winter Olympics fire will carry the blessings of all people who are concerned about and promote the development of the Olympic movement, and entrust all the Chinese people's expectations for the Olympic ice and snow sports event, and set foot on the "home" together. journey.