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Winter Olympics: China fuels controversy as Uyghur athlete lights cauldron

February 04, 2022 21:58 IST

Torchbearers Zhao Jiawen and Dinigeer Yilamujiang hold the Olympic torch to light the cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games at the National Stadium on Friday

IMAGE: Torchbearers Zhao Jiawen and Dinigeer Yilamujiang hold the Olympic torch to light the cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games at the National Stadium on Friday. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

A cross country skier born in Xinjiang was one of two final torchbearers who ended the Olympic opening ceremony by sending a flame into the sky on a giant snowflake.

Dinigeer Yilamujiang, from Altay, Xinjiang, and Zhao Jiawen, a 21-year-old biathlete, delivered the flame.

Yilamujiang, 21, is the first Chinese cross-country skiing medallist at any FIS-level event and is a medal hopeful in a sport in which China has not traditionally excelled.

The selection of Yilamujiang as a final torchbearer came as many western nations diplomatically boycotted the Winter Games over China's treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

China denies human rights abuses.

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