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The relay for the torch that will open the Feb.
4-20 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 Olympic 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 a.m. This is my fourth Olympics. I'm very happy.
I'm also cold!", Chan told reporters after his run along the
wall.
Badaling, the section of the wall most often visited by
tourists, is 70 km (45 miles) northwest of central Beijing in
the Yanqing district, near the Olympics sliding and Alpine
skiing venues.
It was built around 1500 A.D. during the Ming dynasty.
Later on Thursday, the torch will be taken to Zhangjiakou in
neighbouring Hebei province, where most of Olympic snow events
will take place. The relay will end with the lighting of the
Olympic cauldron at Friday's opening ceremony.
Because of COVID-19, the Games are taking place inside a "closed
loop" keeping competitors and other Olympics personnel away from
the public, and will be attended only by small, selected
audiences.
(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian and Ryan Woo; Writing by Tony Munroe;
Editing by Karishma Singh)
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