Looks like we are about to head over into Beijing's National Stadium. The Chinese president Xi Jinping has just been introduced.

BBC Radio 5 Live

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Double Olympic Skeleton Champion Lizzy Yarnold was on BBC Radio 5 Live a little earlier getting warmed up for the opening ceremony and appearance in the TV studio.

Yarnold, who was also Team GB's flag bearer in Pyeongchang, South Korea, four years ago said: "It is such a huge moment. I did not realise how big a moment it was for me until we were about to walk into the stadium and I was handed the flag.

"I was put on a little spot and everyone was line up neatly behind me and I thought 'this is the moment I have watched on telly since I was a little kid'. I was crying. I am not ashamed to admit it.

For those guys, Eve [Muirhead] and Dave [Ryding] They are so deserving of carrying the flag and leading the team. It is a responsibility and I am so excited for them. It's all about trying to keep the flag moving, and the tricky thing is how you navigate with two people."

Speaking about her role figure skating legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in analysing the action for BBC Sport, Yarnold added: "I am super nervous about the BBC work.

"I love watching live sport and love live sport but how am I going to keep my emotions in check?".

Love this.

This happy, oval-shaped little fella is Bing Dwen Dwen, the official mascot of the Winter Olympics.

Image source, Getty Images

His ice outfit resembles an astronaut suit, while the heart on his left palm is to symbolise China's hospitality for athletes during the Games.

Image source, Getty Images

"Bing" has several meanings in Mandarin Chinese, although the most common is ice. It also symbolises purity and strength, while “Dwen Dwen” means robust and lively.

Image source, Getty Images

Want to know what's on when?

The day-by-day guide has got you covered.

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Image source, BBC Sport

That is one giant ice surface - 11,600 square metres to be exact. The television pictures from outside are just as impressive.

Sonia Oxley
BBC Sport in Beijing

The first glimpse of the ‘ice’ floor lit up draws big ooohs and ahhhs all round. It looks incredible, almost good enough to skate on.

Image source, BBC Sport

As well as tight Covid-19 controls, the Games are fraught with political tensions over allegations of human rights abuses and boycotts.

Noah Hoffman, who competed at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games says it has understandably made some US athletes nervous about "sharing" this moment.

"I don't think a single athlete is going to speak out at the Games and nor do I think they should," Noah Hoffman told the BBC. "If I were there I would be keeping my mouth shut."

The 32-year-old skier, who now advocates for sportsmen and women, added: "The risk is just too great... this is a failure of the International Olympic Committee, it's a failure of leadership that athletes are in this position."

He said he's been talking to teammates who are at these Games and they've told him the build-up experience is "nothing like what we've experienced before".

One athlete told him they'd not had a single meeting about "sport or their athletic performance". The preparatory meetings with the US Olympic authorities had focused on Covid-19 measures and personal safety for competitors while they are in China.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach will meet Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai to "convince us in person of her wellbeing and state of mind".

Bach will meet the 36-year-old during the Winter Olympics, which are currently being held in Beijing.

Peng vanished for weeks after accusing a top Chinese official of sexual misconduct in November.

She has since re-appeared, but many remain concerned about her wellbeing.

British freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy says China is "not well suited" to host the Winter Olympics because of its human rights abuses.

The International Olympic Committee has been criticised for awarding the Games to China and the World Uyghur Congress has described the event as "a genocide Olympics".

Kenworthy told BBC Sport the IOC "should not grant" the Games to countries with "appalling" human rights records.

"I think the IOC should take a stance against a lot of these atrocities and stand up for important issues, and by not granting those countries the right to host the Games they could create positive change in those places - maybe not even letting them compete," he said.

Read more here.

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Four-time Olympic rowing gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent is currently going through the controversies, crisis and complications attached to this Games.

Informative and succinct, it is well worth a watch.

Sonia Oxley
BBC Sport in Beijing

We’ve having a bit of a warm-up now, practising counting down from 10 in Chinese and waving the lights on our mobiles.

And we’re reminded to clap as loudly as we can for the special guests and stand for the anthems.

Image source, BBC Sport

BBC One

Oh glorious. Footage of figure skating legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in the BBC One preview montage.

Did we mention they are part of BBC Sport's Winter Olympic team?

Team GB's most successful Winter Olympian, Lizzy Yarnold, and skier Chemmy Alcott are on duty today.

Image source, Getty Images

Sonia Oxley
BBC Sport in Beijing

Like at the whole of these Olympics, arriving at the Bird’s Nest this evening you are either inside or outside the bio-secure loop and you need to stay that way…

Image source, BBC Sport

Hope you are wrapped up Sonia? It looks, and is, very chilly.

Sonia Oxley
BBC Sport in Beijing

Everyone in the stadium has been given a bag of goodies on their seats - we’ve all just been told to put on the red face masks that are in there.

Other useful items include gloves, a hat and blanket. It’s expected to be around -3°C during the ceremony.

Image source, BBC Sport

Aimee Fuller brings you the Winter Olympic Mile podcast on BBC Sounds.

As a former professional snowboarder and two-time winter Olympian she knows just how it feels as a Games gets under way.

In this edition Aimee is chatting with two icons from two different disciplines within snowboarding Shaun White and Mark McMorris.

White is widely regarded as one of the GOATs of the sport and is at his fifth Olympic games, yes 5th, and he’s medalled at 3 of them. McMorris is a two-time bronze medallist.

BBC One

Now then, if you fancy settling down to all this with a brew on the sofa in front of the TV we have got you covered.

If you pop BBC One on in five minutes or so we will have all the action and some from the opening of the 24th Winter Olympics.

And from 4-20 February, BBC Sport will ensure you can stay in front of the action 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 will 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.

Sonia Oxley
BBC Sport in Beijing

The stadium is filling up nicely with less than hour to go.

Image source, BBC Sport