Chinese authorities had insisted they would go ahead despite the threat of COVID-19 and be "Simple, Safe and Splendid".

For most of us, they were also bizarre and somewhat artificial, though just as with the re-arranged Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo the previous year, it was something of a privilege just to be there.

They began amid a barrage of questions over human rights in China and at a time when Russia was continuing its massive military build up on the Ukrainian border, even as its President Vladimir Putin arrived to attend the Opening Ceremony.

Visitors arriving in Beijing were greeted by airport staff wearing white Hazmat suits.

As had been the case in Tokyo, a Games "Playbook" was produced to set out the way things were to operate.

This had prescribed a "Closed Loop System" to prevent the spread of infection.

What this meant in practice was that no visitor was permitted to walk even the shortest distance on public streets.

Transfer from the airport to approved hotels was by buses which did not open their doors until the gates of the hotel in question had been firmly closed.

Hotel staff were also subject to this strict regime and spent the important Chinese New Year festival apart from their families.

This did not stop them placing a pink chocolate rose on each table in the hotel restaurant on February 14 to celebrate Valentine's Day, one of many acts of kindness by those directly responsible for looking after us.

Everyone was required to take a daily COVID-19 test, conducted by staff in special booths at each hotel.

There was a similar regime in the Olympic Village, but soon there came stories of dissatisfaction with the unceremonious way in which athletes had been placed into isolation after registering positive tests.

Bus travel was required even for short journeys within the "Olympic Green".

This was the main park which included the National Stadium, more popularly known as the "Bird's Nest".

Nearby, the ice hockey arena and the Beijing National Aquatics Center - or "Water Cube" - converted into an ice rink for curling, were divided by only by a road, yet to go from one to the other it was still necessary to take a bus.

The Bird's Nest was first stadium to host Opening Ceremonies for a Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

Some 14 years before, it had been a sweltering night as the 2008 Games were set in motion with a spectacular Ceremony.

As the sun set in late afternoon a year ago, every conceivable layer of clothing was deployed to stave off plummeting temperatures.

The kit issued to all included a bobble hat, scarf, a pair of gloves and a hand warming pad.

There were spectators in the Stadium for the Opening Ceremony and also in designated areas at each sport.

"They are from outside the loop, they are mainly residents from Zhangjiakou and Beijing including fans of winter sport, common residents and students in school as well as international friends living here," Beijing 2022 officials claimed.

Separation from the "crowd" was strictly enforced, though at the nightly medal presentations, all attending seemed to have some kind of official accreditation.

At every venue, these "spectators" did seemed to be rather too well rehearsed for the spontaneous audience participation as they chanted the Games mantra "Together for a Shared Future".

Beijing Organisers could not, or would not reveal spectator numbers.

This seemed strange as they were able to assert with some certainty that the target of 300 million Chinese participants in Winter sport had been "surpassed" by 46 million, all because of the Winter Olympics.

They were also prepared to disclose, and at some length, the quantities of Peking Duck supplied to the Olympic village.

In addition came breathless updates on the supply of fluffy Bing Dwen Dwen mascots. 

These were in short supply despite frantic efforts to increase production after the New Year holiday.

Judged as spectacle alone, the Opening Ceremony of Beijing in 2008 has never been surpassed.

It was directed by Zhang Yi-mou who was enlisted once again to take charge in 2022.

He produced Ceremonies that were undeniably extremely impressive in their own right.

The arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach from opposite sides of the tribune of honour preceded a rather strange interlude as performers greeted Xi with a carefully choreographed wave.

During the music and dance which followed, none of them put a foot wrong.

Beijing's Olympic Flame had been only been taken to the three Olympic clusters as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, but for  the final moment of lighting, Zhang had promised something 'unprecedented'.

An Olympic Torch was placed carefully in a rotating snowflake receptacle,constructed from the name placards of all the participating countries. 

"It is very simple and straightforward, but with a distinct idea, a 'micro fire' conveying the low-carbon and environment-friendly concept," Zhang explained.

The Flame was so small as to be all but invisible, prompting rumours it had gone out during a snowstorm,

The selection of female Uyghur cross country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang as one of two athletes to light it was given rather more prominence.

The American Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield described Dinigeer's selection as "a distraction from genocide."

There continued to be questions about human rights and particularly, forced labour camps in Xinjiang, where Uyghur minorities had been taken.

These provoked an unprompted and astonishing outburst by Beiijing 2022 spokeswoman Yan Jiarong at a media  conference held jointly with the IOC Presidential spokesman Mark Adams.

"I think these questions are based on lies," Yan declared.

The team from Chinese Taipei had ultimately taken part in the Opening Ceremony after suggestions that they might not.

Their presence at the Games prompted another intervention from Yan.

"I have to take a solemn position," she said.

"What I want to say, there is only one China in the world,"

Yan then insisted " We are always against the idea of politicising the Olympic Games."

It was an outburst which brought no rebuke, at least in public.

There was one story broken by my insidethegames colleagues which ultimately bestrode all others at the Games.

The revelation of a pre-Olympic positive drug test by 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva provided an unseemly daily saga in which it was hard not to feel desperately sorry for the teenager herself.

It was not a story which enjoyed any great prominence in the English language China News, produced by official Chinese state media.

A year on, the medals for the team event remain in limbo, prompting a protest on social media by the United States skaters who could yet receive team gold if the disqualification of Valieva is ultimately upheld.

Elsewhere, Beijing 2022 did produce some wonderful sporting moments.

At the new speed skating oval, dubbed the "Ice Ribbon", Swedish speed skater Nils Van der Poel of Sweden completed a long distance double and Irene Schouten from The Netherlands won three gold medals on what seemed to be a very fast track.

Across the city, 18-year-old California born freestyle skier Eileen Gu won gold in the big air and half pipe representing China and enjoyed headlines in both nations. 

Up in the mountains, the remarkable Norwegian biathlete Johannes Thingnes Bø came away with four gold medals.

Others took pleasure in more modest success.

Every morning, a Slovakian journalist would arrive for breakfast at the insidethegames  hotel with a beaming a smile which increased each day.

The reason soon became clear, as Slovakia eventually won the bronze medal in men's ice hockey.

The final medal to be awarded carried with it a symbolic irony.

The flag of the Russian Olympic Committee was raised as cross country skier Alexander Bolshunov was presented with men's mass start gold.

The Flame flickered out a few minutes later and with no little relief ,everyone contemplated a more "norma"' Olympics at Paris 2024.

A few days later, artillery fire and heavy shelling began on Ukraine’s borders to speak of a new dangerous era for the world and an ever more uncertain sporting future,

It later transpired that Bolshunov was one of a number of athletes to attend pro-war rallies held in Russia and almost a year on, there is no sign to the end of fighting.