Fireworks light up the Beijing sky. One blast briefly spells out - One World, One Family - the Games slogan.
Sixteen days of furious action comes to an end. The calm after the storm.
Flame extinguished
GettyCopyright: Getty
The Olympic flame is extinguished. The snowflake that has hung over the centre of the Olympic Stadium for the past 16 days descends to the floor as the flags of the competiting nations surround it.
'Positive legacy ensured'
GettyCopyright: Getty
IOC president Thomas Bach: "This
unforgettable experience was only possible because of our gracious hosts, the
Chinese people. With over 300 million people now engaged in winter sports, with
the great success of the Chinese athletes, the positive legacy of these Olympic
Winter Games is ensured.
"With the truly
exceptional Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 we welcome China as a winter
sport country."
'Faster, higher, stronger'
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
IOC president Thomas Bach says that the drive to overcome the Covid 19 pandemic must take inspiration from the Olympic motto.
"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.
"In this Olympic
spirit of solidarity, we call on the international community: give equal access
to vaccines for everybody around the world."
'Give peace a chance'
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
This is quite a pointed speech from International Olympic Committee chairman Thomas Bach.
"You not
only respected each other. You supported each other. You embraced each other,
even if your countries are divided by conflict," he tells the athletes.
"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.
"This
unifying power of the Olympic Games is stronger than the forces that want to
divide us: you give peace a chance.
"May the
political leaders around the world be inspired by your example of solidarity
and peace."
Forza Italia
Those of you who paid attention in geography will be able to spot the outline of Italy, the next hosts of the Winter Games, on the floor of the Bird's Nest...
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
'A new era for Winter sport'
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
It is time for Cai Qi, the president of the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee to say a few words.
"With the successful delivery of the Games, Beijing has made history as the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter editions of the Olympic Games," he said.
"The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 opens a new era for winter sport. It is yet another extraordinary example of humanity coming together for a shared future. The Olympic spirit will live on forever.
"Dear friends, I hope you will remember Beijing and Zhangjiakou, and remember the unforgettable time we have spent together at this Olympic Winter Games.
Let us join each other and create a brighter future for all."
Venice on the itinerary
BBCCopyright: BBC
Venice is going to host some of the action in 2026, hence ice hockey players on a barge and figure skaters on a gondola in Milan-Cortina's video montage.
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
'Keep funding it, to prove everyone wrong'
Lizzy Yarnold
Two-time Olympic champion on BBC TV
If it was an easy answer people would have been able to answer it already.
I would love to see Winter Sports coming toegther more often. I've enjoyed sharing the passion for sport.
Funding is so important - I know we haven't bought the medals home but keep funding it to prove everyone wrong.
To Milan-Cortina...
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
The next Winter Olympics will be held in 2026 in Milan-Cortina. The opening ceremony will be in the San Siro apparently.
The Olympic flag passes to the towns' mayors before two children push a giant globe across a 'sheet of thin and cracking ice' projected onto the stadium floor.
And then it is over to another montage. Which does make Italy look suitably lovely though to be honest.
Highlights of the Games: Struggles for Great Britain
Aside from the curling medals, the Games have been a struggle for Team GB.
There were some high hopes but ultimately medal chances came and went.
Nowhere was this seen more than in the skeleton where Great Britain's run of having the Olympic champion in the women's event came to an abrupt end.
Highlights of the Games: Brilliant Boe
Biathlon
The most successful athlete at the Beijing Games is Norway's Johannes Thingnes Boe.
He leaves China having bagged a remarkable four golds and one bronze in the biathlon. His brother Tarjei nabbed two golds, a silver and a bronze too.
Time for another montage. This one celebrates athletes from around the world, and how the belief in themselves
and from others helped them achieve
unbelievable performances.
The tune's a new one to me but You Can Get It by Arkells, featuring K.Flay, does the job admirably. Add it to the playlist.
Highlights of the Games: Gu steals the show
Freestyle skiing
If you were picking your star of these Olympics then China's Eileen Gu would be right in contention.
She stunned everyone in the freestyle skiing events by winning gold in the big air and halfpipe plus silver in the slopestyle.
Some suggested it could not be done...
'It means everything to me' - Mouat
BBC Sport
GettyCopyright: Getty
What is it like to carry your team's flag on the biggest stage of all. Here is Great Britain's Bruce Mouat to explain...
"They told us as a five and that was an incredible moment, just having all the boys congratulate me as well. That gave me goose-bumps.
"Honestly I can't describe how it felt, overcome with emotion really.
"Unfortunately me and Jen (Dodds) were too busy to go to the opening cerenony so just to have the opportunity to go to the Bird's Nest for the first time, to be holding the GB flag and to close off what has been an incredible month for me here - it's going to mean everything and I hope all of Britain can watch and to be proud of us."
Bolshunov picks up third gold of Games
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Russian Alexander Bolshunov is also picking up his third gold of the Games, this time for a (shortened) 50km mass start.
Medal admin
GettyCopyright: Getty
Quick bit of medal admin before we continue...
Two cross country skiing medals will be handed out.
First, Norway's Therese Johaug picks up the gong for the 30 km Mass
Start Free event. It is her third gold, her first was the very first of the whole Games.
She missed the last Games as she served an 18-month suspension for testing positive for steroids.
Montage time
Everyone loves a montage right? Of course. And so, the closing ceremony is launching into a high-budget recap of some of the action of the past couple of weeks.
Strangely, they have picked Rage Against the Machine for the music though...
Only joking, anonymous melodramatic strings instead.
'There is only one China'
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
The spectre of politics has never been far away from the Games.
Beijing Games spokesperson Yan Jiarong, having earlier insisted in media briefings that politics would remain off the agenda, switched tack by asserting Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan.
"There is only one China," she said when an International Olympic Committee spokesperson was asked whether Taiwan, which competes as Chinese Taipei at Beijing's insistence, would attend today's closing ceremony.
Live Reporting
Mike Henson, Ros Satar and Matthew Henry
All times stated are UK
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Latest PostThe close of the closing ceremony
Fireworks light up the Beijing sky. One blast briefly spells out - One World, One Family - the Games slogan.
Sixteen days of furious action comes to an end. The calm after the storm.
Flame extinguished
The Olympic flame is extinguished. The snowflake that has hung over the centre of the Olympic Stadium for the past 16 days descends to the floor as the flags of the competiting nations surround it.
'Positive legacy ensured'
IOC president Thomas Bach: "This unforgettable experience was only possible because of our gracious hosts, the Chinese people. With over 300 million people now engaged in winter sports, with the great success of the Chinese athletes, the positive legacy of these Olympic Winter Games is ensured.
"With the truly exceptional Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 we welcome China as a winter sport country."
'Faster, higher, stronger'
IOC president Thomas Bach says that the drive to overcome the Covid 19 pandemic must take inspiration from the Olympic motto.
"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.
"In this Olympic spirit of solidarity, we call on the international community: give equal access to vaccines for everybody around the world."
'Give peace a chance'
This is quite a pointed speech from International Olympic Committee chairman Thomas Bach.
"You not only respected each other. You supported each other. You embraced each other, even if your countries are divided by conflict," he tells the athletes.
"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.
"This unifying power of the Olympic Games is stronger than the forces that want to divide us: you give peace a chance.
"May the political leaders around the world be inspired by your example of solidarity and peace."
Forza Italia
Those of you who paid attention in geography will be able to spot the outline of Italy, the next hosts of the Winter Games, on the floor of the Bird's Nest...
'A new era for Winter sport'
It is time for Cai Qi, the president of the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee to say a few words.
"With the successful delivery of the Games, Beijing has made history as the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter editions of the Olympic Games," he said.
"The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 opens a new era for winter sport. It is yet another extraordinary example of humanity coming together for a shared future. The Olympic spirit will live on forever.
"Dear friends, I hope you will remember Beijing and Zhangjiakou, and remember the unforgettable time we have spent together at this Olympic Winter Games. Let us join each other and create a brighter future for all."
Venice on the itinerary
Venice is going to host some of the action in 2026, hence ice hockey players on a barge and figure skaters on a gondola in Milan-Cortina's video montage.
'Keep funding it, to prove everyone wrong'
Lizzy Yarnold
Two-time Olympic champion on BBC TV
If it was an easy answer people would have been able to answer it already.
I would love to see Winter Sports coming toegther more often. I've enjoyed sharing the passion for sport.
Funding is so important - I know we haven't bought the medals home but keep funding it to prove everyone wrong.
To Milan-Cortina...
The next Winter Olympics will be held in 2026 in Milan-Cortina. The opening ceremony will be in the San Siro apparently.
The Olympic flag passes to the towns' mayors before two children push a giant globe across a 'sheet of thin and cracking ice' projected onto the stadium floor.
And then it is over to another montage. Which does make Italy look suitably lovely though to be honest.
Highlights of the Games: Struggles for Great Britain
Aside from the curling medals, the Games have been a struggle for Team GB.
There were some high hopes but ultimately medal chances came and went.
Nowhere was this seen more than in the skeleton where Great Britain's run of having the Olympic champion in the women's event came to an abrupt end.
Highlights of the Games: Brilliant Boe
Biathlon
The most successful athlete at the Beijing Games is Norway's Johannes Thingnes Boe.
He leaves China having bagged a remarkable four golds and one bronze in the biathlon. His brother Tarjei nabbed two golds, a silver and a bronze too.
Not bad.
GB in the house
Spot the medal ribbons!
Montage time. Again.
Time for another montage. This one celebrates athletes from around the world, and how the belief in themselves and from others helped them achieve unbelievable performances.
The tune's a new one to me but You Can Get It by Arkells, featuring K.Flay, does the job admirably. Add it to the playlist.
Highlights of the Games: Gu steals the show
Freestyle skiing
If you were picking your star of these Olympics then China's Eileen Gu would be right in contention.
She stunned everyone in the freestyle skiing events by winning gold in the big air and halfpipe plus silver in the slopestyle.
Some suggested it could not be done...
'It means everything to me' - Mouat
BBC Sport
What is it like to carry your team's flag on the biggest stage of all. Here is Great Britain's Bruce Mouat to explain...
"They told us as a five and that was an incredible moment, just having all the boys congratulate me as well. That gave me goose-bumps.
"Honestly I can't describe how it felt, overcome with emotion really.
"Unfortunately me and Jen (Dodds) were too busy to go to the opening cerenony so just to have the opportunity to go to the Bird's Nest for the first time, to be holding the GB flag and to close off what has been an incredible month for me here - it's going to mean everything and I hope all of Britain can watch and to be proud of us."
Bolshunov picks up third gold of Games
Russian Alexander Bolshunov is also picking up his third gold of the Games, this time for a (shortened) 50km mass start.
Medal admin
Quick bit of medal admin before we continue...
Two cross country skiing medals will be handed out.
First, Norway's Therese Johaug picks up the gong for the 30 km Mass Start Free event. It is her third gold, her first was the very first of the whole Games.
She missed the last Games as she served an 18-month suspension for testing positive for steroids.
Montage time
Everyone loves a montage right? Of course. And so, the closing ceremony is launching into a high-budget recap of some of the action of the past couple of weeks.
Strangely, they have picked Rage Against the Machine for the music though...
Only joking, anonymous melodramatic strings instead.
'There is only one China'
The spectre of politics has never been far away from the Games.
Beijing Games spokesperson Yan Jiarong, having earlier insisted in media briefings that politics would remain off the agenda, switched tack by asserting Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan.
"There is only one China," she said when an International Olympic Committee spokesperson was asked whether Taiwan, which competes as Chinese Taipei at Beijing's insistence, would attend today's closing ceremony.