china seems to be saying no introduction is necessary. the ceremony ended with a jarring political moment, one of the torchbearers, an athlete from the uighur minority. the host country accused of detaining leaders in internment camps their subjected to abuse. something the chinese have denied. president xi jinping was sending a mess aedge. faced with a question, double down. never let an insult go unanswered. reporter: it is to be sure an unusual winter games but even with the politics and pandemic e. there are moments like these. team usa getting ready for the parade of nations with all of the same excitement and joy. let s go! the representatives of the united states of america. reporter: and if the first couple of days are any sign, there will be a lot to cheer about, especially on the ice. the u.s. figure skaters have a good chance for a medal here in the team competition but for skaters like nathan chen, this is all something of a warmup for the individual
opening ceremony might be a couple of days away but team gb are already in action. in the curling, bruce mouat and his playing partnerjen dodds are competing in the mixed doubles. they re the world champions, so good prospects for a medal in beijing. they are up against sweden. the score is 8 5. the pair will also compete in the men s and women s team events in the second week. earlier, china started its olympic torch relay as part of the countdown to the games. the flame will be carried on a three dayjourney by more than 1,000 torchbearers that s a much shorterjourney than usual, because of china s covid restrictions. beijing currently has its highest number of cases sincejune 2020. it s already affecting the medal hopes of some athletes the latest to be ruled out of the games is austrian ski jump favourite marita kramer, earliertoday. barcelona have confirmed the signing of arsenal striker pierre emerick aubameyang.
the flame will be carried on a three dayjourney by more than a thousand torchbearers that s a much shorterjourney than usual, because of china s covid restrictions. beijing currently has its highest number of cases sincejune 2020. it s already affecting the medal hopes of some athletes the latest to be ruled out of the games is austrian ski jump favourite marita kramer, earliertoday. roy hodgson says it will be a dogfight as he prepares to keep watford in the premier league. he was though in poetic mood as he held his first press conference since his appointment as he explained why at 7a he felt this was a job he couldn t turn down with the club second from bottom and looking to stay in the top flight. i thought that i would probably find it easy to resist and when this job came up, it was one that i was never going to turn down because it was quite literally the siren call from the mermaid as the sailor passers by
him that you can face obstacles and have challenges and overcome them. i just want to show him that his mother never gave up. steve joining me now. steve, you re up in the mountains and have been talking to athletes about the conditions there. what are they saying? lester, no doubt the weather is playing a big role here. the windchill is below zero. the artificial snow is a much harder surface and the snowboarders tell me that the wind itself is making landings extremely difficult, something that will have a huge impact later on tonight. lester? steve patterson in china, thank you. the olympics have once again put china, its policies and politics in the spotlight. the games kicked off in part in controversy with one of the athletes chosen to be one of the torchbearers. janice mackey frayer reports from outside the olympic bubble in beijing. tonight the olympic spotlight in beijing also on politics. china s president xi jinping hosting a roster of presidents and vips from largel
BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) The Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games kicks off today (Friday). After three days of torch relay, the Paralympic flame has now rea