Xinjiang Uyghur athlete delivers final Olympic flame in Beijing opening ceremony
For a country that has been condemned for its treatment of the Uyghurs the symbolism was impossible to miss.
Olympic torch is brought into the stadium by Chinese athletes Dinigeer Yilamujiang, left, and Zhao Jiawen.Jae C. Hong / AP
Feb. 4, 2022, 11:04 PM CST / Updated Feb. 4, 2022, 11:09 PM CST
By
Saphora Smith
The 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off Friday in unexpected fashion as one of the final torchbearers in the opening ceremony was revealed to be Uyghur cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang.
For a country that has been condemned for its treatment of the
Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, the symbolism was impossible to miss.
The lighting of the Olympic cauldron by the final torchbearer has long been a centerpiece of Olympic opening ceremonies and marks the beginning of the Games. It is considered a great honor to be the last athlete to carry the flame.
This year there was no cauldron per se, but a giant snowflake in the center of which Yilamujiang and another athlete, Zhao Jiawen, placed the flame.
Yilamujiang is the first Chinese cross-country skiing medalist at an International Ski Federation event, according to China’s official Xinhua news outlet. Born in Xinjiang to a father who was a cross-country skier, this is her first Olympics, according to her official
Olympic bio which says she is 20 years old.
For a country that has been condemned over its treatment of the Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the symbolism was impossible to miss.
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