Winter games: Jackie Chan carries torch atop Great Wall

PTI

BEIJING, February 3

The Olympics torch relay began its second day today atop the Great Wall, with Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan and Chinese Olympics medallists among those taking turns carrying the flame along a route shortened to three days because of Covid.

The relay for the torch that will open the February 4 to 20 Winter Games is much more modest than the globe-spanning relay for Beijing's 2008 Summer Games, a tour that was disrupted by protests.

Table tennis Olympics gold medallist Ma Long and Wu Jingyu, a two-time gold medallist in taekwondo, were among those carrying the red-and-silver spiral torch along the Badaling section of the Great Wall, where the Thursday morning temperature was a bracing -11 Celsius (12 Fahrenheit).

Chan, 67, a Hong Kong action and comedy film star known for his support of the Beijing government, was identified in the official press release by his Chinese name Chen Gangsheng. "I woke up at 4 am. This is my fourth Olympics. I'm very happy. I'm also cold!", Chan told reporters.

Badaling, the section of the wall most often visited by tourists, is 70km (45 miles) northwest of central Beijing in the Yanqing district, near the Olympics sliding and Alpine skiing venues.

The relay will end with the lighting of the Olympics cauldron at Friday's opening ceremony. — Reuters

55 Covid cases on Feb 2, highest daily tally

Beijing: A total of 55 new Covid infections were found among Olympic Games-related personnel on Wednesday, the chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel said today, the highest daily tally so far. wenty-nine cases were found among new airport arrivals, Brian McCloskey told the International Olympic Committee session the day before the Games' official opening, while 26 were among those in the "closed loop" bubble that separates all-event personnel from the public. reuters

Indian contingent Covid-free after manager found negative in retests

Beijing: A day after testing positive for Covid-19, the manager of India's Winter Olympics contingent, Mohammad Abbas Wani, has returned negative results in two retests conducted in the last 24 hours, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said today. Chef-de-Mission Harjinder Singh expressed surprise over Wani testing positive as he had taken two vaccine doses besides a booster and obtained a green QR Code to travel to Beijing after clearing the tests before boarding the flight. Now that the entire contingent has been cleared, the team will take part in Friday's opening ceremony to be held at the Bird's Nest stadium here, Singh said.

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