Beijing 2022: Your guide to the Closing Ceremony
The sports action is over, but there's one big event remaining - Here are the key things you need to know about the Closing Ceremony on 20 February that brings the curtain down on the Olympic Winter Games.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Games conclude on Sunday 20 February with a Closing Ceremony that follows the 17 days of competition.
The showpiece event will officially bring the Olympics to an end, and see the hosts hand the flag over to Milano Cortina 2026, where the next Winter Games will be held.
Beijing 2022 was the second Olympic Games to be staged in the space of six months following the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, held in July 2021 after the 12-month postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read on for more of what to expect at the Closing Ceremony.
Where will the Beijing 2022 Closing Ceremony take place?
The Closing Ceremony will be held at the Beijing National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, in the Chinese capital.
The stadium hosted the spectacular Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony on Friday 4 February, plus the ceremonies and athletics events at the Beijing 2008 Summer Games.
When will the Beijing 2022 Closing Ceremony take place?
The Closing Ceremony for Beijing 2022 will take place on Sunday 20th February 2022, at 8pm China Standard Time in Beijing.
That's 13:00 in central Europe, where the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, and Paris 2024 Olympics will be held.
It's 04:00am in Los Angeles, host of the 2028 Games.
Who won the most medals at Beijing 2022?
Norway topped the medal count with 16 gold, eight silver, and 13 bronze for a total of 37 medals.
Germany were second with 12 gold, 10 silver, and five bronze for a total of 27 medals.
Hosts China were third with nine gold, four silver, and two bronze for a total of 15 medals.
Norwegian biathlete Johannes Thingnes Boe was the most successful athlete at Beijing 2022 with three four gold and one bronze medal.
His teammate and fellow biathlete Marte Olsbu Roeiseland was the most successful female athlete at the Games with three gold and two bronze medals.
Finland won the final gold of the Games, the men's ice hockey, which was the last competition event.
Beijing 2022 Closing Ceremony Flagbearers
Roeiseland will carry the flag for Norway.
Xu Mengtao - who won gold in the women's freestyle skiing aerials and silver in the mixed team event - and Gao Tingyu - who won gold in the men's 500m speed skating - will carry the flag for hosts China.
Elana Meyers Taylor - who won silver in the women's monobob and bronze in the 2-woman bobsleigh - will be flagbearer for Team USA.
What happens at the Closing Ceremony?
Expect some spectacular sights, as were seen in the Opening Ceremony.
The Closing Ceremony opens with a farewell message from the President of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Cai Qi.
Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee will also deliver messages.
The Victory Ceremonies of the Cross-Country Skiing Women 30 km Mass Start Free and the Cross-Country Skiing Men 50 km Mass Start Free will take place.
The Closing Ceremony includes a parade of flags representing all participating nations, starting with the founding country of Greece and ending with the host nation.
Remaining Olympians march in a parade of athletes, but unlike the Opening Ceremony, there is no order as the athletes walk en masse.
The Olympic flag is lowered and the flag of the next Winter Olympic host country - Italy - is raised alongside the flag of the current host, China.
As part of the customary ceremonial flag handover, the Olympic flag will be passed to the mayors of the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina-D’Ampezzo, hosts of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
The Beijing 2022 Games are then declared closed during a speech by IOC President Bach. That declaration is made official with the extinguishing of the Olympic flame.
The Olympics come to an official end with a fireworks show.
The Summer and Winter Olympics will then officially return to the traditional two-year cycle, starting with Paris 2024.
How to watch and follow the Beijing 2022 Closing Ceremony
Viewers in some countries will be able to watch the ceremony live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and with highlights on the official Olympics YouTube account.
Keep up with all the action in our Live Blog updates throughout Beijing 2022, here.
