Winter Olympics closing ceremony LIVE: Team GB women win first gold medal in curling as Beijing Games end
Follow latest updates from Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 as Team GB chase their first medal of the Games
Great Britain’s women, led by Eve Muirhead, went one better than the men in their gold medal match against Japan at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The men’s team fell short yesterday when Sweden claimed gold to deny Bruce Mouat and his team. Swedish skip Niklas Edin proved too good and repeated their victory over Great Britain in a 2014 semi-final. Muirhead overcame almost impossible odds to steer her women’s curling team into the Olympic final where she completed an incredible journey to finally fulfil an ambition that appeared beyond her after a decade at the top of her sport. Team coach Murdoch put her chances of salvaging victory at “less than 10 per cent” after shipping four shots in a disastrous opening end to defending Olympic champions Sweden, but they clawed back to clinch a thrilling 12-11 victory in an extra end.
In the final, Muirhead guided Great Britain to their first and only gold of the Games, beating Japan 10-3 to claim the joint-biggest margin of victory in a final since the sport was reintroduced in ‘98. With all events now closed and the medals handed out, it only remains for the closing ceremony to take place and the baton to be passed on to Italy.
Follow live coverage from the Winter Olympics below:
‘Cold’ Kamila Valieva treatment pushes IOC towards fresh investigation
Winter Olympics: Eileen Gu wins second Beijing gold as Zoe Atkin falls short of freestyle medal
Winter Olympics 2022 medal table: Latest count puts Norway in the lead
What does having the hammer mean in curling and how do you get it? The rules explained
Great Britain falls short on medals target in Beijing despite curling success
Despite a gold for the women’s curling team at the National Aquatics Centre on Sunday morning, and the silver earned by the men in the same event on Saturday, Team Gb have ultimately fallen short of their medal target out in Beijing.
The failure to meet its broad medals target in Beijing is sure to raise some serious questions relating to support and funding in the weeks and months ahead. UK Sport set a target of three to seven medals in Beijing and Team GB delivered only those two in curling.
You can read the full breakdown and analysis of what went wrong here:
Great Britain falls short on medals target in Beijing despite curling success
Curling delivered a gold and a silver but heavily funded Skeleton, and Ski and Snowboard sports, drew a blank
Five biggest moments from 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games ranked
A Russian figure skater threatened to dazzle before a shocking truth emerged, a Rocket Man also ruled the ice, and a final-day surge ensured the last weekend was all about Eve.
You can read our rundown of the five biggest moments from the Beijing Winter Olympic Games here:
Five stand-out moments from the Beijing Winter Olympics
A memorable Games in China with highlights and lowlights at both ends of the spectrum
Paralympics to begin in March
It is important to remember, of course, that we are only a matter of days away from the Paralympic Winter Games beginning in Beijing.
The Paralympics begin on Friday 4 March and will run until Sunday 13 March.
Milan Cortina to host 2026 Games
Milan Cortina will be the host of the next edition of the Winter Olympic Games.
The event will kick off on Friday 6 February 2026, in the Dolomite mountain range.
That will be the fourth time Italy has hosted an Olympic Games, and the first since Turin held the Winter version in 2006.
Closing ceremony ends with extinguished flame
Another choir of Chinese children is singing once again, as the snowflake symbol which has hung in the arena since the beginning of the ceremony is lowered to the ground.
At the same time, the Olympic flame is extinguished, bringing to a close a Games which has seen a fortnight of excellent sporting action hampered by political tensions and diplomatic crises.
It has been a busy 19 days.
Bach praises Chinese hosts and declares Games closed.
Thomas Bach ends his speech by thanking the Chinese for hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, and declared the Games closed.
“We must thank our gracious Chinese hosts,” he says. “With the great success of the Chinese athletes, the positive legacy of these Games is ensured. We welcome China as a winter sports country.”
“Now I have to mark the end of this unforgettable Winter Olympic experience. I declares these Games closed.”
Bach makes vaccine demand of governments
Bach also discussed the athletes whose careers have been halted by Covid-19 in his speeech, sayign he is “heartbroken” that they cannot be in the arena with their fellow competitors.
“We call on the international community to give equal access to vaccines to everyone around the world.”
This is an uncharacteristically political speech so far.
Bach calls on politicians to be “inspired” by Olympic spirit
IOC President Thomas Bach is addressing the crowd now, and says the spirit of the athletes in the arena is a lesson to politicians around the world.
“You embraced each other even if your countries are divided by conflict,” the German says. “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 this Olympic Games is stronger than the forces that want to divide us,” he adds. “You give peace a chance. May the political leaders around the world be inspired by your example of solidarity and peace.”
Italy takes over as Winter Olympics host
The Italians take control of the ceremony briefly now as a montage of boats in Venice and jets flying around the Dolomites signals their hosting of the 2026 Games.
Milan and Cortina will be the venue for the next Winter Olympics in 2026.
President of the Beijing Organising Committee Cai Qi and International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach will now give a speech each.
Climate change message at closing ceremony
Two children are now rolling a giant, hand-made Earth across the floor of the arena, the ball cracking the augmented reality ‘ice’ as it goes.
This is apparently a statement on the fragile nature of the environment and the dangers of clime change.
A worthy message, though perhaps not one the hosts have yet to get fully on board with themselves.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments