The Beijing Winter Olympics drew to a close on Sunday, rounding off the Games that will go down in history as much for their coronavirus restrictions. The closing ceremony at Beijing’s famous Bird’s Nest stadium, opened with children dancing holding snowflake-shaped lanterns, and ended with singing and the extinguishing(熄灭) of the Olympic flame.

Snowflake lights then floated up out of the stadium and fireworks lit up the night sky spelling the message: “One World, One Family.” Inside, people celebrated on the stadium floor as the song “Auld Lang Syne” played.

The closing ceremony, like the opening one, was a simplified affair compared to the 2008 summer games, emphasizing children, Chinese tradition and ordinary people. Earlier in the ceremony, flag bearers representing the countries that participated, entered the stadium followed by athletes many holding their phones to capture the moment. After becoming the first city in the world to host both the summer and the winter competitions, Beijing passed the baton(接力棒) to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, which will host the 2026 Winter Games. Two children one from Cortina and one from Milan then rolled a globe across cracking ice, in what appeared to represent the fragile state of the planet.

The ceremony was directed by the famous and respected Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who also designed the opening ceremony, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In a speech to conclude the Games, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach praised athletes for their sportsmanship. “You not only respected each other, you supported each other, even if your countries are divided by conflict,” he said. “May the political leaders around the world be inspired by your example of solidarity and peace.” Bach also called on the international community to give equal access to Covid vaccines to people around the world. “If we want to finally overcome this pandemic we must be faster, we must aim higher, we must be stronger, we must stand together,” he said.

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