Winter games: Jackie Chan carries torch atop Great Wall

PTI

BEIJING, February 3

The Olympics torch relay began its second day today atop the Great Wall, with Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan and Chinese Olympics medallists among those taking turns carrying the flame along a route shortened to three days because of Covid.

The relay for the torch that will open the February 4 to 20 Winter Games is much more modest than the globe-spanning relay for Beijing's 2008 Summer Games, a tour that was disrupted by protests.

Table tennis Olympics gold medallist Ma Long and Wu Jingyu, a two-time gold medallist in taekwondo, were among those carrying the red-and-silver spiral torch along the Badaling section of the Great Wall, where the Thursday morning temperature was a bracing -11 Celsius (12 Fahrenheit).

Chan, 67, a Hong Kong action and comedy film star known for his support of the Beijing government, was identified in the official press release by his Chinese name Chen Gangsheng. "I woke up at 4 am. This is my fourth Olympics. I'm very happy. I'm also cold!", Chan told reporters.

Badaling, the section of the wall most often visited by tourists, is 70km (45 miles) northwest of central Beijing in the Yanqing district, near the Olympics sliding and Alpine skiing venues.

The relay will end with the lighting of the Olympics cauldron at Friday's opening ceremony. — Reuters

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