Beijing, February 04, 2022, SPA -- The twenty-fourth Winter Olympic Games "Beijing 2022" kicked off here today, and will last until February 20, with Saudi participation for the first time, since its start in 1924, along with 90 countries from around the world, in the presence of Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Minister of Sports, President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The opening ceremony, which was held at the national stadium known as the "Bird's Nest", and lasted for nearly 100 minutes, amid strict precautionary measures to limit the spread of the novel Coronavirus, included many artistic and cultural shows. After that, the countries showed their participating sports missions, which witnessed the raising of the Saudi flag in the Winter Games for the first time in history, through the Saudi winter sports team player Faiq Abdi, who is participating in the Alpine Skiing competition. The Kingdom’s delegation participating in the tournament includes Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, Vice President of the Olympic and Paralympic Committee; Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan, member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, member of the International Olympic Committee; and Adwaa Al-Arifi, member of the Board of Directors of the Olympic and Paralympic Committee. It is noteworthy that the number of participants is about 2,861 male and female athletes, competing in 109 games. -- SPA 20:09 LOCAL TIME 17:09 GMT 0027 www.spa.gov.sa/w1687408