Summary

  • Watch the opening ceremony on BBC One (UK only)

  • Curler Eve Muirhead and alpine skier Dave Ryding are Great Britain's flagbearers

  • Beijing, the first city to host both a summer and winter Olympic Games, will reuse the Bird’s Nest stadium it built for the 2008 Summer Olympics

  • The opening ceremony is directed by Zhang Yimou, the same Oscar-nominated cinematographer who oversaw both the opening and closing ceremonies at Beijing 2008

  1. Keep across the Winter Olympics on the BBCpublished at 15:08 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    If you're looking to get a few pointers on the Winter Olympics now that it is under way here are a few places you can start:

    We will be back with on Saturday morning from 00:30 GMT and following all the action until it ends around 15:00 GMT.

  2. Winter Olympics: Day-by-day guide to key events & British medal hopespublished at 15:02 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Media caption,

    Free Spirits: Team GB's snow sport athletes describe the perils of the job

    Remember to check out our comprehensive guide to all the key events and British medal hopes in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

    Saturday will see six medal events in all in the Biathlon (mixed relay), cross-country skiing (women's skiathlon), freestyle skiing (men's moguls), ski jumping (women's normal hill), short track speed skating (mixed team relay and speed skating (women's 3,000m).

  3. Great Britain's medal hopespublished at 14:57 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

  4. Why is luge the 'fastest sport on ice'?published at 14:56 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Sonia Oxley
    BBC Sport in Beijing

    Athletes whizz at speeds above the motorway limit down sheer ice on small sleds in both sports - but what makes luge faster than skeleton?

    Average luge speeds are 120-145km/h, with skeleton at 120-130km/h, and Luge USA even once patented the phrase 'fastest sport on ice'.

    Turns out, it's all about the physics...

    Luge
  5. Follow the Winter Olympics on the BBCpublished at 14:55 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Team GBImage source, Getty Images

    So the Winter Olympics have opened with a bang but what is coming next?

    Well BBC Sport have your back with more than 300 hours of live coverage on BBC One and BBC Two, plus a second live stream on BBC iPlayer, Red Button and online.

    There will also be daily highlights programmes on BBC Two and BBC Three.

    The BBC Sport website and app also have video highlights, on-demand clips, live text and reports, while Radio 5 Live will cover all the big moments.

    The sporting programme includes a record 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports and Team GB's 50 athletes are hoping to secure a record number of medals.

    Remember you can watch all the highlights from today from 19:00 GMT on BBC Two.

  6. Winter Olympics: Why is Beijing 2022 so controversial?published at 14:51 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    If you are not full acquainted with all the issues and controversies surrounding the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, I promise that this is well worth a watch.

  7. Postpublished at 14:47 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Memorable moment alert.

  8. 'I need my penguin!'published at 14:44 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    The magnificent Tia Kofi and Veronica Green from season two of RuPaul's Drag Race UK had a bash at ice dancing.

    It went, er, about as well as you can imagine...

    Media caption,

    Winter Olympics: Drag Race UK meets Team GB ice dancing

  9. 'It's a badge of honour being the oldest here'published at 14:42 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    It has been sixteen (sixteen!) years since Shaun White won his first Olympic gold medal.

    Now, aged 35, the American is the oldest competitor in the field as he attempts to secure his fourth.

    He spoke to Aimee Fuller about his career, longevity and overcoming disappointnment.

    Media caption,

    Winter Olympics: Shaun White: The G.O.A.T on his favourite photos

  10. Postpublished at 14:41 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Ever wanted to eat like an Olympic athlete?

    Well now you know how...

  11. 'I woke up and my shoulder was on fire'published at 14:39 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Before the Winter Olympics in 2018, skiier Charlie Guest was struggling to walk.

    The Scot suffered recurring problems after breaking her back in 2014 and, although she made it to the startline in Pyeongchang, she says she felt huge "shame" as she competed in the slalom.

    A year later, she became the first British woman to ever win an Alpine European Cup, and is now lining up in Beijing.

    She told BBC Sport about her journey to the Games and how she picked herself up after the disappointment of four years ago.

    Charlie GuestImage source, Getty Images
  12. Can you complete a Rubik's cube faster than a bobsleigh run?published at 14:36 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Team GB bobsleigh pilot Brad Hall is challenged by his team-mates to complete a Rubik's cube faster than a bobsleigh run.

    Media caption,

    Winter Olympics 2022: Could you complete a Rubiks cube faster than a bobsleigh run?

  13. GB mixed doubles curlers defeat Australia after extra endpublished at 14:35 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Great Britain have already been in action in Beijing with mixed doubles curlers Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat surviving an inspired Australia fightback to maintain their semi-final hopes.

    Leading 6-1 and then 8-6, the British pair were pegged back in the last end to force a decider.

    After Mouat's take-out in the extra end, Australia's Tahli Gill missed her draw to give Britain a nervy 9-8 win.

    They now have a record of three wins and one defeat in Beijing.

  14. Downing Street wishes Team GB wellpublished at 14:30 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    In the absence of UK government officials (given their diplomatic boycott), Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sent his best wishes on the Team GB via twitter.

    UK government tweetImage source, @10DowningStreet
  15. 'It looks very different to 2008'published at 14:29 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Montell Douglas
    Team GB bobsleigh breakwoman

    Bobsleigh brakewoman Montell Douglas is he first British female to be selected to compete at both a summer and winter Games. She previously competed for GB in the 100m and relay at the 2008 summer Games, which were also in Beijing.

    It's a very different experience to when I went to the summer Olympics in 2008.

    I remember being on the 100m start line, it was 38 degrees and so humid. Right now, it is about -3 degrees. It's a completely different world, but one we are fully preparing for.

    One of our doctors, who was out there earlier, messaged me saying "hi from a very snowy Beijing!". I was like "SNOW?!". When some of my team-mates went out for the test event in October, they said during the day it wasn't that cold so I really wasn't expecting much snow.

    It's a completely different world, but one we are fully preparing for.

  16. Listen: The Winter Olympic Milepublished at 14:28 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

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  17. Postpublished at 14:28 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    BBC Sport

    GB Snowsport CEO Vicky Gosling spoke to The Sports Desk podcast about finding kids with ‘grit’ to help with an ambition of making Great Britain a more competitive snowsport nation.

    “We know our sport attracts kids with grit. So we need to find the kids with grit, with the talent and the mentality and the mentality to win.”

    One of the ways they hope to do this is through Project Balance,, external aiming to bring young people from the skateparks to the mountain ranges.

    “Going to skateboard parks and finding these kids that actually have got the balance, got what it takes or certainly got the grit and determination is a really good start point”

    “We certainly want to increase that diversity and inclusion and really the breadth of that pipeline and the kids coming through is really important as a priority for us.”

  18. Postpublished at 14:26 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Lizzy Yarnold
    Two-time Olympic champion

    I loved it. I was trying to spot all the people I know from all the different sports and choose the best outfits.

  19. Postpublished at 14:20 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Now for the fireworks. Dazzling but restrained would probably be the most apt way to describe the conclusion of that opening ceremony.

  20. Postpublished at 14:18 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2022

    Time to light the Olympic snowflake.

    .Image source, BBC One
    .Image source, BBC One