The 2022 Winter Olympics wrapped up Sunday night at the National Stadium in Beijing, after more than two weeks of competition in 109 events from 15 disciplines in 7 sports across the three competition areas of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the ceremony along with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

A total of 2,871 athletes participated in the 2022 Winter Games and more than 2,000 of them attended the closing ceremony. Ceremony chief director Zhang Yimou called the closing event a “big party” for the athletes.

“The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, being truly exceptional and marked the beginning of a new era for global winter sports,” Bach said in his speech.

The athletes could not have achieved their incredible performance without the support and help of the organizing committee. Some 27,000 volunteers were recruited for the 2022 Winter Olympics. They were always there, ready to help every participant in the Games. Many delegations praised the service given by the volunteers.

As part of tradition, the Olympic flag was lowered to half-mast in the middle of the closing ceremony and then handed over by Chen Jining, Mayor of Beijing, to Mr. Bach, who respectively passed it on to Mr. Jining’s counterparts in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Beppe Sala and Gianpietro Gedina, who will jointly host the next Winter Games, named Milano Cortina 2026.

The two representatives of the host country also made an eight-minute introductory presentation to welcome the 2026 Winter Olympics.