PR94647

BEIJING, Feb. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games came to a close at National Stadium in Beijing on

Sunday night after over two weeks of competitions in 109 events of 15

disciplines over seven sports in the three competition zones of Beijing,

Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the ceremony with International Olympic

Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

China, as the host, won a record 15 medals in total including nine golds. They

ranked third on the medal table, behind Norway which set a new all-time record

by securing 16 golds, and Germany that dominated the sliding competitions to

pocket 12 golds.

A total of 2,871 athletes participated in the 2022 Winter Games and over 2,000

of them attended the closing ceremony. Chief director of the ceremony Zhang

Yimou called the closing event a "big party" for athletes.

"The truly exceptional Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 were the beginning of

a new era for global winter sport," Bach said in his speech.

Of course, athletes wouldn't be able to achieve their incredible performance

without the support and assistance from the organizing committee. Some 27,000

volunteers have been recruited for the 2022 Winter Olympics. They were always

there, ready to help every participant in the Games. Many of the delegations

spoke highly of the service from the volunteers.

"They have demonstrated the Olympic Spirit. They have been ambassadors for

friendship, understanding and peace," Bach said in a previous interview with

China Media Group.

As part of the tradition, the Olympic flag was lowered down in the middle of

the closing ceremony, and then passed by Chen Jining, mayor of Beijing, to Bach

who passed the flag to Chen's counterparts in the Italian cities of Milan and

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Beppe Sala and Gianpietro Gedina, respectively, that will

jointly host the next Winter Games dubbed as Milano-Cortina 2026.

The two representatives from the host country also made an eight-minute

introductory presentation to welcome the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Bach declared the curtain dropped for Beijing 2022 at the end of his speech.

As the ceremony was coming to an end, a huge snow flake, which also carried the

Winter Olympic flame, was lowered down and finally went out, marking the end of

the Beijing 2022 time as well as the start of the four-year countdown for

Milano-Cortina 2026.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-02-20/Beijing-2022-Winter-Olympics-closing-ceremony-begins-17Ok5LgyH04/index.html

SOURCE: CGTN

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=415626

   Caption: Closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Stadium in

Beijing, February 20, 2022. /CFP

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=415627

   Caption: Athletes attend the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games at

National Stadium in Beijing, February 20, 2022. /CFP

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=415628

   Caption: Beppe Sala (C), mayor of Milan, and Gianpietro Gedina (R), mayor of Cortina

d'Ampezzo, hold the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter

Olympic Games at National Stadium in Beijing, February 20, 2022. /CFP

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=415629

   Caption: Closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Stadium in

Beijing, February 20, 2022. /CFP