Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics: Torch Relay Includes Two Robots Passing The Smokeless Flame Underwater in China's Yongding River

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics torch relay that will last for three days has already begun Wednesday. Yao Ming and a Chinese soldier wounded in a bloody 2020 border clash with India were among the first to carry the symbolic flame. It also includes a unique torch relay — the first-ever underwater relay with no human champions but two robots across the field.

Olympic Torch Passed by Robots Underwater Without Humans First in History

(Photo : LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou in the role of 'High Priestess', lights the torch with the flame from the cauldron, to pass it over to Chinese organizers during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathinean Stadium in Athens on October 19, 2021. - The flame will be transported by torch relay to Beijing, China, which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics from February 4-20, 2022.

The handover of the symbolic Olympic torch involved a presentation in which its flames were submerged in water for eight minutes. The relay involving two submersible robots were recorded from the icy Yongding River.

China's tiny robots held a specialized torch with a metallic red and silver design. The flame adopted a special smoke-free environment-friendly gaseous fuel to support China's promise to deliver a green and clean Olympics.

The first robot received the flame from the 254th human torchbearer named An Guoyu. The robot was handed the same torch that left Olympia in Greece last October 2021. It then plunged into the depths of the Yongding River. The second robot surfaced with the flaming torch in its arms and passed it to the 255th torch bearer, An Yixiang. The person ran for the last leg of the relay, which will conclude on Friday, February 4 before the beginning of the opening ceremonies.

The Winter Games Olympic opening ceremony is set on February 4 at 8 PM CST at the Beijing National Stadium.

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Innovations in Olympic Torch Relay

A total of 1,200 individuals were supposed to participate in the pre-games relay but had to be cut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a report by Insider, the organizers in Beijing described the robotic pair's underwater rehearsals as "breathtaking and touching."

The passing of the torch underwater in Beijing was the first innovational concept ever adapted to the Olympic relay in history. However, the pair was not the first in terms of robotic torch-bearing.

Sydney Olympics in 2000 was the first to perform an underwater relay. Marine biology expert Wendy Craig Duncan swam below the depths of the Great Barrier Reef with the torch. The Sochi 2014 Winter Games also conducted a submarine leg, which involved a relay 42 feet below the massive Baikal Lake in Russia.

PyeongChang 2018 witnessed the first usage of robotic technology during the relay. It was performed by a large droid complete with six legs called Crabster. The machine was built at the Korean Institute of Ocean Science and Technology as a deep-seas exploration droid.

The Yoongding River handover used a specialized torch constructed with smokeless gaseous fuel, allowing the torch flames to burn under the waters while keeping the environment free from pollution.

According to DailyMail, China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation scientist Zhang Bo said that the composition of gases that lit the torch was modified to exhibit a blaze similar to a standard flame. The underwater torch used in the Yongding River was inspired by the official carbon fiber-based "feiyang" torch of the Beijing Olympics 2022.