The 2022 Winter Olympics closing ceremony was held at the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on 20 February 2022. As mandated by the

Olympic Charter The Olympic Charter is a set of rules and guidelines for the organisation of the Olympic Games, and for governing the Olympic movement. Its last revision was on the 17th of July 2020 during the 136th IOC Session, held by video conference. Adop ...

, the proceedings are expected to combine the formal ceremonial closing of this international sporting event (including closing speeches, hoisting of the flags, the parade of athletes, and the handover of the Olympic flag) with an artistic spectacle to showcase the culture and history of the current and next host nation (

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) for the

2026 Winter Olympics ) , nations = , athletes = , events = 116 in 8 sports , opening = 6 February 2026 , closing = 22 February 2026 , opened_by = , cauldron = , stadium = San Siro Verona Arena , wint ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

. The closing ceremony was directed by film director and producer

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

, who also directed the

opening ceremonies An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

and previously directed and produced the opening and closing ceremonies of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Theme and Concept

According to Zhao Weidong head of the 2022 Olympic organising committee's media department the theme of the closing ceremony will be: *Together For A Shared Future *Beijing as the city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics *Celebrations of athletes' achievements at those Games As stated by Zhang Yimou, somewhere during the closing ceremony will re-create a moment from the opening ceremony of the

, as for the Beijing National Stadium being the venue for the ceremonies of both Summer and Winter Olympics.

Ceremony key team

*Closing Ceremony Director –

*Chief Lighting Designer – Sha Xiaolan ;Announcers * French – Zhang Shanhui (

CGTN French CGTN French (formerly CCTV International French or CCTV-Français formerly CCTV-F is a French language entertainment and news channel of China Central Television (CCTV) originating in China, and are part of the Chinese Government's information min ...

news anchor) *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

– Li Dongning ( CGTN English news anchor) *

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

– Kang Hui (

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

news anchor)

Proceedings

Source:

Entrance of the President of China and the President of the IOC

At 8:00pm China Standard Time, Chinese President Xi Jinping and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach entered the stadium.

Lighting the Emblem

As the closing ceremony takes place five days after the Lantern Festival, which is the final day of the Chinese New Year celebrations, a performance was held to celebrate and promote the culture of the Chinese New Year through lanterns. Children danced and played with lanterns while interacting with the large snowflake cauldron in the center of the stadium. Their movement formed the emblem of the 2022 Winter Olympics. The lanterns were shaped like snowflakes to commemorate the overlap of both the Winter Olympics and the Chinese New Year celebration as well as to highlight the tradition of playing with lanterns during the Lantern Festival.

National Anthem of the People's Republic of China

Entry of countries' and regions' flags & Parade of nations

Continuing from the lantern performance, twelve sleds shaped in the form of Chinese zodiac animals, namely the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig, carved out a Chinese knot on the floor, joining the children with lanterns in continuing the celebration of the Chinese New Year. The zodiac animals represent the interlinkage of the Chinese calendar and its solar terms. Animations performed by ribbons wrapped around the giant snowflake cauldron to form a hybrid combination of the Chinese knot and the lantern. The flags of the 91 competing nations entered the stadium first, followed by all the athletes who were still in Beijing marching in together as one group accompanied by an arrangement of Beethoven's ''

Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" (German language, German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia (magazine), Thalia''. A slightl ...

''. The athletes gathered on the knot, symbolizing the Chinese culture of family reunion for the Chinese New Year.

Highlights video: "2022 and me"

Victory Ceremonies

;Women's cross-country skier medalists * * * ;Men's cross-country skier medalists * * *

Introduction of the IOC athlete's commission new member and recognition of the volunteers

Video: Powered by Belief

Moment of Remembrance: Bidding Farewell with a willow twig

Highlights video: "2022 and us"

Greek National Anthem and handover of the Olympic flag

First, the

Greek flag The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "blue and white one" ( el, Γαλανόλευκη, ) or the "sky blue and white" (, ), is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has nine equal horizontal strip ...

was raised while the Greek national anthem is played. The Olympic flag was then lowered and folded while the

Olympic Hymn french: Hymne Olympique, italic=no , alt_title = , en_alt_title_2 = , image = Olympic Hymn title.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = , prefix = Official , country = the Olympic Games and ...

was sung in Greek. Afterwards, the flag was passed from the mayor of Beijing,

Chen Jining Chen Jining (; born 4 February 1964) is a Chinese academic and politician who is a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the current Communist Party secretary of Shanghai. An environmental engineer by profession, Chen served ...

, to IOC president

Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former Olympic foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist, serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 10 September 2013. He is also a former memb ...

, who then hand it over to the mayors of Milan,

Giuseppe Sala Giuseppe "Beppe" Sala (born 28 May 1958) is an Italian manager and politician, currently mayor of Milan. He was CEO of Expo 2015 in Milan from 2010 to 2015. He became mayor of Milan in 2016, supported by the centre-left coalition, and he was con ...

, and Cortina d'Ampezzo,

Gianpietro Ghedina Gianpietro is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Gianpietro Carlesso (born 1961), Italian artist * Gianpietro Marchetti (born 1948), Italian footballer * Gianpietro Piovani (born 1972), Italian footballer and ma ...

. This was followed by the raising of the

flag of Italy The national flag of Italy ( it, Bandiera d'Italia, ), often referred to in Italian as ''il Tricolore'' ( en, the Tricolour, ) is a tricolour (flag), tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical Pale (heraldry), pales of green, white and red, ...

and the playing of its anthem. During the Italian national anthem, a projection of stars (representing the 7,904

comuni The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

of the country) formed the outline of Italy. The Olympic flag will be raised again on January 19, 2024 for the opening ceremonies of the

2024 Winter Youth Olympics ) , nations = , athletes = 1,900 , events = 81 , opening = 19 January , closing = 2 February , opened_by = President Yoon Suk-yeol (expected) , cauldron = , stadium = Gangneung OvalYongpyong Dome , website ...

in Gangwon Province,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Milan-Cortina 2026: "Duality, together"

As per tradition,

and

, the host cities of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games presented an artistic performance at the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics. But due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and using this year organizing concept; "less is more", the producer Marco Balich needed only use 6 performers. The artistic performance of the segment is called "Duality, Together", which coincidentally matched with "Together for a shared future", the slogan of the 2022 Winter Olympics. According to Christian Milici (Head of Events), they aimed to celebrate the harmony which links two cities (Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo) that are very seemingly different, but are in dialogue with each other. Because of this, the segment was focused on the harmony between humanity and nature. The segment starts out with two children with the names of the host cities on each of their backs rolling and hugging a inflated vinyl plastic globe, representing the two next host cities inviting the world for the 2026 games and the history of the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

(a historical important trading route traced by

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

which was the first link between

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

). The first film depicted the two dancers trekking across the host cities: a man running in the urban landscape of Milan and a woman running in the snowy mountains of Cortina d'Ampezzo, both of whom represent the two cities. After the first film, the two then performed together on the stadium in a modern dance sequel to represent the history and the cultural aspects of Italy. After the segment, a second film was shown depicting various athletes holding several Italian flags and flags with the 2026 Winter Olympics logo. It then shows several open-aired meetings across the country as

Frecce Tricolori The ''Frecce Tricolori'' (; literally "Tricolour Arrows"), officially known as the ''313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (PAN) Frecce Tricolori'' ("313th Acrobatic Training Group, National Aerobatic Team (PAN) Frec ...

flies over

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

(main hotspot from

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, the region where Cortina is located) and the Italian

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and introduced the two host regions,

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

and

Production team

* Head of events: Christian Milici * Creative director: Marco Balich * Artistic director: Lidia Castelli

Performers

* Violinist: Giovanni Andrea Zanon * Singer:

Malika Ayane Malika Ayane (; born 31 January 1984) is an Italian pop singer. Early life Malika Ayane was born in Milan, Italy, on 31 January 1984, to a Moroccan father, Ahmed, and an Italian mother. She grew up in the Zone 2 of Milan, the most multi-ethn ...

Closing Speeches

Along the final speech and remarks made by Cai Qi, president and chairman of the

Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (北京2022年冬奥会和冬残奥会组织委员会) (BOCWOG) was a public institution with legal person status, responsible for the organisation and coordination ...

, the IOC President

formally declared the games closed, praising them as excellent and unforgettable, as per the

he invited in French the youth of the world to meet again in Milan and Cortina D'Ampezzo in four years time.

Video: Farewell! Together for a shared future!

Following the declaration of the closing of the Games, a video was shown of Beijing citizens and Winter Games volunteers bidding farewell to their international guests. It concluded with Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen waving to a snowflake as it flies toward the sky.

Extinguishing of the Olympic flame and Final last closing events

The Olympic flame, burning in a torch placed in the middle of a giant snowflake-shaped cauldron, was descending while one of the most striking scenes from the opening ceremony of the

was being reproduced (when the Olympic rings were formed on a carpet of LEDs that was suspended) gradually extinguished while " You and Me", the theme song of the

, was sampled when the flame finally touched the ground and was extinguished, then they started to play "Snowflakes", the theme song of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which was sung by the Beijing Philharmonic Choir (北京愛樂合唱團). This scene was written to highlight the fact that the city made the historical achievement of being the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, to end the ceremony as the

determines and a large display of fireworks started. A large display of fireworks followed and ended the show along with the farewell musical song " Auld Lang Syne", sung by all member artists and the musical choir because the closing ceremony ended exactly at 21:40 CST, to mark the end of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Dignitaries in attendance

Host nation dignitaries

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

– **

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

—

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader o ...

, Chairman of the CMC and President of the PRC **

Peng Liyuan Peng Liyuan (; born 20 November 1962) is a Chinese soprano and contemporary folk singer and the spouse of Xi Jinping, current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of the People's Republic of China. Peng gained populari ...

— First lady of China ** Li Keqiang —

Premier of the People's Republic of China The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is ...

** Cai Qi —

Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...

Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is the decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ...

member and Chairman of the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee **

—

Mayor of Beijing The politics of Beijing is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in the mainland of the People's Republic of China. The Mayor of Beijing is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Bei ...

International dignitaries

* −

Wu Cherng-dean Wu Cherng-dean (; born 10 May 1957) is a Taiwanese politician. As of 2003 and 2006 he was of the New Party of the Republic of China in Taiwan and served as a legislator. In 2003 he and Sisy Chen joined the People First Party (PFP) legislative ca ...

, Chairperson of the New Party * −

Mayor of Milan The mayor of Milan ( it, sindaco di Milano) is the first citizen and head of the municipal government of the city of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. The current office holder is Giuseppe Sala, a centre-left independent who has been in charge since 2016 M ...

* − Gianpietro Ghedina, Mayor of

Heads of international organizations

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

⁣ – ⁣

President of the International Olympic Committee The president of the International Olympic Committee is head of the executive board that assumes the general overall responsibility for the administration of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the management of its affairs. The IOC E ...

Anthems

National Anthem of the People's Republic of China The "March of the Volunteers" (), originally titled the "March of the Anti-Manchukuo Counter-Japan Volunteers", has been the official national anthem of the People's Republic of China since 1978. Unlike previous Chinese state anthems, it was ...

* National Anthem of Greece –

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Olympic Anthem The Olympic Hymn ( el, Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of ...

– Sang by the Malanhua'er Children's Choir in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

* National Anthem of Italy – Sang by

and played on violin by Giovanni Andrea Zanon

Victory ceremonies

National Anthem of Norway "" (; en, "Yes, we love this country") is the Norwegian national anthem. Originally a patriotic song, it came to be commonly regarded as the ''de facto'' national anthem of Norway in the early 20th century, after being used alongside "" since th ...

–

* Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky –

Notes

References

External Links

*
Full replay: 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games Closing Ceremony
on AcFun {{Portal bar, Olympics, China

Closing Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

Ceremonies in China Olympics closing ceremonies