Acclaim as curtain falls on Games

Winter Olympics end on high note, with Beijing praised for safe and outstanding sporting gala

With the Olympic flame extinguished following a farewell party, Beijing capped the 2022 Olympic Winter Games to resounding global acclaim on Feb 20 for bringing the world together through the power of sports at a challenging time.

As the first major international sporting event held on schedule amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Winter Games concluded in a memorable way after International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach declared its closing, witnessed by President Xi Jinping at the iconic National Stadium in Beijing.

The closing ceremony, which began at 8 pm on Feb 20 and featured artistic performances and athlete parades, brought the curtain down on an extensive display of thrilling sports action, friendship and mutual respect among 2,877 athletes from 91 national and regional Olympic committees at safe and well-organized Games, despite unprecedented challenges amid the pandemic.

During 19 days of outstanding performances on ice and snow, 17 Olympic records, including two world records,

were broken, while gold medals were awarded in a record number of 109 events at the most gender-balanced Winter Games to date, where 45 percent of athletes were women.

Highlighted by breakthroughs in snow sports, the host delegation

bagged a national record haul of 15 medals, including nine gold, to finish third in the overall medal standings, its highest ever since China’s Winter Olympics debut at the 1980 Lake Placid Games in the United States.

With the world facing common chal

lenges such as the rampaging Omicron variant of coronavirus and geopolitical tensions, the Chinese organizers’ relentless efforts to set up an equal stage for athletes to compete fiercely, yet live in peace and respect under one roof in a safe environment, earned appreciation from around the world.

“You overcame these divisions, demonstrating that in this Olympic community we are all equal — regardless of what we look like, where we come from, or what we believe in,” Bach said during the closing ceremony. “This unifying power of the Olympic Games is stronger than the forces that want to divide us.

“The Olympic spirit could only shine so brightly because the Chinese people set the stage in such an excellent and safe way,” he added. “Our deepest thanks and gratitude go to the organizing committee, the public authorities and all our Chinese partners and friends. On behalf of the best winter sport athletes of the world, I say: Thank you, our Chinese friends.”

With the successful delivery of Beijing 2022, Beijing has made history as the first city ever to host both summer and winter editions of the Games.

Cai Qi, president of the Beijing 2022 organizing committee and Party secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal

Committee, said, “The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 opens a new era for winter sports. It is yet another extraordinary example of humanity coming together for a shared future. The Olympic spirit will live on forever.”

The event’s closed-loop management, which required all Games participants to move only between their designated accommodation facilities and competition, training and working venues via official transportation that kept them separated from local communities, proved sound and effective.

“It was one of the safest places on the planet, if not the safest place, and this is a great achievement,” Bach said of the Winter Games’ closed loop at a news conference on Feb 18.

Although entering China with concerns about the strict COVID-19 protocols, many athletes have hailed their stay in Beijing as a reassuring experience that helped them focus on the competition.

As per the traditional protocol of such closing ceremonies, Chen Jining, the mayor of Beijing, handed the Olympic flag to IOC President Bach, who passed it to the mayors of the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, to raise the curtain on the next Winter Olympic Games, which will be hosted by Italy in 2026.

ZHANG WEI / CHINA DAILY International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (left) watches as Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala (center) and Cortina d’Ampezzo Mayor Gianpietro Ghedina hold the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony. The two cities in northern Italy will jointly host the 2026 Winter Olympics.

PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Xu Mengtao waves the Chinese flag as she is carried by fellow Team China gold medal winner Gao Tingyu, as they lead world athletes into the National Stadium on Feb 20.

The Olympic rings are seen during the celebratory, snowflake-themed closing ceremony of the Winter Games at the National Stadium in Beijing.

The closing ceremony was a colorful event featuring stunning visuals and artistic displays and performances.

Athletes dance in a circle as they enter the stadium during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Fireworks spell out “One World” during the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, in Beijing on Feb 20.

LI GA / XINHUA

XINHUA Fireworks project “One Family” in Chinese and English after spelling out “One World” at the closing ceremony.

XINHUA A newly elected member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission presents souvenirs to six representatives of volunteers at the ceremony.

XINHUA Italian artists at a performance themed ‘duality of city and mountains’ at the closing ceremony.

Children perform during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games.

REMKO DE WAAL / AFP A municipal worker inspects an uprooted tree on Reguliersgracht in Amsterdam on Feb 19, after storm Eunice hit Northern Europe. At least 16 people were killed by falling trees and flying debris caused by fierce winds in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Poland, emergency services said.

IVAN ALVARADO / REUTERS Music is played in Santiago on Feb 21 to mark the return of a stone statue to Easter Island. The Natural History Museum in the Chilean capital has held the statue, known as moai, since 1870. It will be shipped to the South Pacific island at the end of the week.

GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE / REUTERS Smoke rises from the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia on Feb 19 after the vessel caught fire off Corfu the day before. A survivor was rescued on Feb 20 morning from the stern of the ferry, with 11 people still missing. The ship had been sailing from Greece to Italy.

ODELYN JOSEPH / ASSOCIATED PRESS Children play at the Devirel camp in Les Cayes, Haiti, on Feb 16. The international community has pledged $600 million to help rebuild Haiti’s devastated south, where an earthquake killed more than 2,200 people six months ago.

An Israeli farmer displays a 289-gram strawberry (right) on Feb 17 that was found in his field in Kadima village. It is the world’s heaviest strawberry, according to Guinness World Records. AFP

ZOU ZHENG / XINHUA Visitors to Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto are surrounded by fish on Feb 21. The aquarium was packed with visitors celebrating the nation’s Family Day.

MARCO BELLO / REUTERS Packages of cocaine and marijuana seized from multiple interdictions are seen on deck before being unloaded from US Coast Guard vessel James in Port Everglades in Florida on Feb 17.

JUAN GONZALEZ TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY / REUTERS A worker removes dead anchovies that washed up on Coliumo Beach near the Chilean city of Concepcion on Feb 20.

DONG XUMING / FOR CHINA DAILY Paintings of Congcong, Chenchen and Lianlian, the mascots of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, are seen on the roofs of a community compound in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Feb 16. The 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 start on Sept 10 and will run through Sept 25.

LIU XIN / FOR CHINA DAILY People visit the upgraded Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall in Shanghai on Feb 22. The venue, a window showcasing the city’s development, was closed for renovation and technological upgrades at the end of 2019 and reopened for trial operation on Feb 19.

KUNGA LESANG / FOR CHINA DAILY People have fun at a snow-sliding attraction at an amusement park in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, on Feb 20. A small ski slope and a snow-bike area were also set up to help visitors celebrate the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

MA GANG / FOR CHINA DAILY Visitors enjoy a spectacular snow scene at Lushan Mountain, Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, on Feb 20 after heavy snowfall in the region. Lushan National Park is a major tourist site that attracts millions of visitors each year.

KUANG LINHUA / CHINA DAILY A welcoming ceremony is held for students returning to Beijing Chaoshen Kindergarten (Huizhong branch) on Feb 21 for the new semester. Kindergarten, primary and secondary school pupils in Beijing all returned to school on Feb 21.

SUN CHANGSHAN / FOR CHINA DAILY People play curling on Feb 19 on a lake in Mishan, Heilongjiang province, using mops and curling stones made of ice to celebrate China’s achievements at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, which ended on Feb 20.

WANG JIANCAI / FOR CHINA DAILY A fleet of nearly 100 boats sails out to fish on Qiandao Lake in Chun’an, Zhejiang province, on Feb 16. The boats will cooperate in hauling in a giant net.

YANG BO / CHINA NEWS SERVICE People pass by a crosswalk decorated with heartwarming images on Liuchao Road in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, on Feb 21.