Plans for the Beijing 2022 torch relay revealed as the Olympic flame arrives in China

The Olympic torch arrived in Beijing on Wednesday after departing from Athens a day prior. The torch was used to light a display cauldron at an official welcoming ceremony held at the Beijing Olympic Tower.

Plans surrounding the torch’s time in the People’s Republic of China remain somewhat murky, but it was announced and confirmed by the IOC today that an abbreviated traditional public torch relay will be held.

The relay will begin three days before the 2022 Winter Olympic Games set to begin on February 4, 2022. There will be approximately 1,200 torchbearers involved, as the torch visits the three competition zones of Beijing, Zhangjiakou, and Yanqing.

This represents a major shift from the much longer traditional public relay held in Japan before the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. That relay was not without hiccups however, as the torch was forced off public roads and relegated to private ceremonies multiple times during the relay as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was teased by the IOC that similar private displays of the Olympic flame might happen during the torch’s time in China. According to the IOC, the Olympic flame will be displayed at the offices of Beijing 2022 TOP sponsors and local official partners sometime before the abbreviated relay begins.

The flame will reportedly travel around regions of the country known for their history or snow sports sometime before the 2022 Winter Olympics as well. However, for the time being, the Olympic flame will be kept on public display at the Beijing Olympic Tower.

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