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China contingent is seen throughout the athletes parade on the opening ceremony, 2022 Beijing Olympics, Nationwide Stadium, Beijing, China, February 4, 2022.
Phil Noble | Reuters
The Beijing Winter Olympics drew to a detailed Sunday, rounding off the Video games that may go down in historical past as a lot for his or her coronavirus restrictions and geopolitical tensions, as their nail-biting competitions and emotional moments.
The closing ceremony at Beijing’s well-known Chook’s Nest stadium, opened with youngsters dancing holding snowflake-shaped lanterns, and ended with singing and the extinguishing of the Olympic flame.
Snowflake lights then floated up out of the stadium and fireworks lit up the evening sky spelling the message: “One World, One Household.” Inside, individuals celebrated on the stadium ground because the tune “Auld Lang Syne” performed.
The closing ceremony, just like the opening one, was a simplified affair in comparison with the 2008 summer season video games, emphasizing youngsters, Chinese language custom and odd individuals.
Earlier within the ceremony, flag bearers representing the international locations that participated, entered the stadium adopted by jubilant athletes many clutching their telephones to seize the second. A small however enthusiastic crowd of invited friends watched on after organizers introduced they’d not promote tickets to most people.
After changing into the primary metropolis on this planet to host each the summer season and the winter competitions, Beijing handed the baton to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, which is able to host the 2026 Winter Video games.
Two youngsters one from Cortina and one from Milan then rolled a globe throughout cracking ice, in what appeared to signify the delicate state of the planet.
The Chinese language capital had the strictest coronavirus restrictions but for the Video games that have been marked by a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott over China’s human rights report, the Russia-Ukraine tensions, and a high-profile doping saga involving a 15-year-old skating phenom.
The ceremony was directed by the famend Chinese language filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who additionally designed the opening ceremony, in addition to the opulent opening and shutting ceremonies for the 2008 Summer time Olympics.
In a speech to conclude the Video games, Worldwide Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach praised athletes for his or her sportsmanship.
“You not solely revered one another, you supported one another, you embraced one another, even when your international locations are divided by battle,” he mentioned. “Could the political leaders world wide be impressed by your instance of solidarity and peace.”
Bach additionally referred to as on the worldwide neighborhood to provide equal entry to Covid vaccines to individuals world wide.
“If we wish to lastly overcome this pandemic we should be sooner, we should goal increased, we should be stronger, we should stand collectively,” he mentioned.
Sunday’s ceremony capped two weeks of drama whilst Olympic heroes have been born and the report books rewritten.
Nathan Chen of Workforce USA reacts throughout the Males Single Skating Free Skating on day six of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Video games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 10, 2022.
Matthew Stockman | Getty Photos Sport | Getty Photos
For the US, Erin Jackson turned the first Black lady to win Workforce USA a gold medal in speedskating. The win got here after she stumbled throughout Olympic trials, and her good friend and fellow skater Brittany Bowe provided Jackson her spot in Beijing.
Nathan Chen additionally shined for Workforce USA. He gained gold in males’s determine skating singles, changing into the primary Asian American man to earn an Olympic medal within the occasion.
Already a star going into the Video games, the U.S.-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu gained hero standing in China after bagging two gold medals and one silver for the host nation.
There have been some extra humbling moments too.
Snowboarder Shaun White, the face of contemporary winter sports activities, closed out his Olympic profession in Beijing final week with out making the rostrum.
An extended-running scandal additionally plagued the Video games. Final week, reviews emerged that the Russian determine skater prodigy Kamila Valieva had examined optimistic for a banned coronary heart medicine earlier than the Video games. The 15-year-old missed out on a second gold medal Thursday, and stands to lose gold within the crew occasion if she is discovered to have dedicated a doping offense.
Kamila Valieva of Workforce ROC skates throughout the Ladies Single Skating Quick Program on day eleven of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Video games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 15, 2022 in Beijing, China.
Matthew Stockman | Getty Photos
One of many subjects dominating the protection within the run-up to the Video games was the Chinese language authorities’s remedy of the ethnic Uyghurs, described as genocide by the U.S. authorities. Beijing has repeatedly denied any mistreatment of the largely Muslim minority, insisting its actions within the western area of Xinjiang have been taken to fight terrorism.
Within the opening ceremony, Chinese language officers delivered a defiant message to the world leaders boycotting the Video games by selecting a Uyghur cross-country skier from Xinjiang to ship the ceremonial flame, a second which regularly carries symbolic weight.
Different noteworthy moments included a assembly between Bach, of the IOC, and Peng Shuai, the Chinese language tennis participant who vanished from public view final 12 months after showing to accuse a former prime authorities official of sexual assault. In a monitored interview with the French newspaper L’Equipe throughout the Video games, Peng denied making the allegation.
A L’Equipe journalist who interviewed Peng later mentioned he could not say for certain whether or not she was the truth is free and secure.
As well as, Russia’s massing of troops on the border with Ukraine pierced the Olympic bubble.
The coronavirus pandemic, which first broke out within the Chinese language metropolis of Wuhan, additionally hung over the Video games, with testing confusion and issues about quarantine circumstances including one other layer of stress for already anxious athletes. Complaints have been lodged by athletes and their groups concerning the remedy and the requirements inside Beijing’s so-called quarantine accommodations.
Norway, a rustic whose inhabitants is little greater than 5 million, led the medal depend, because it typically does. Russia was second, adopted by Germany, Canada and the US. China gained 15 medals, in comparison with 9 in Pyeongchang in 2018.
Because the lights go down on two weeks of Olympic drama, sports activities followers mustn’t worry. Whereas these Video games could also be at an finish, the Paralympics in Beijing are nonetheless forward.
They kick off March 4 and finish March 13.
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