Can Xi Jinping's China pull it off? Can happy pictures of a torch relay reduced to 72 hours and tightly cropped images of top level competitions make the world forget about the empty seats, the Covid bubble, the artificial snow, the tight security and the pressure on sponsors over human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong?

The stakes are high for a Chinese president who in the fall is set to break the unwritten rule on term limits and become the nation's longest serving leader since Mao. The Beijing Olympics of 2022 a reminder of how much has changed since the Beijing Summer Olympics of 2008. 

Back then it seemed like the celebration of China joining the fold of developed nations on the inevitable road to if not liberal democracy, at least a free market economy that's open to the world. With Vladimir Putin the main attraction among foreign dignitaries at Friday's opening ceremony, what will these Games symbolise?

And what about the athletes themselves? After all, the Games are marketed as a celebration of universal values of peace and performance through sports with a pinch of national pride. What is left of the Olympic spirit in 2022?

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