The Beijing Winter Olympics is drawing to a close Sunday, rounding off the Games that will go down in history as much for their coronavirus restrictions and geopolitical tensions, as their nail-biting competitions and emotional moments.
The closing ceremony kicks off at 8 pm local time (7 am ET) at Beijing’s famous Bird’s Nest stadium.
After becoming the first city in the world to host both the summer and the winter competitions, Beijing will pass the baton to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, which will host the 2026 Winter Games.
The Chinese capital had the strictest coronavirus restrictions yet for the Games that were marked by a US-led diplomatic boycott over China’s human rights record, the Russia-Ukraine tensions, and a high-profile doping saga involving a 15-year-old skating phenom .
The ceremony is being directed by the renowned Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who designed the opening ceremony, as well as the opulent opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Sunday’s ceremony capped two weeks of drama even as Olympic heroes were born and the record books rewritten.
For the United States, Erin Jackson became the first Black woman to win Team USA a gold medal in speedskating. The win came after she stumbled during Olympic trials, and her friend and fellow skater Brittany Bowe offered Jackson her spot in Beijing.
Nathan Chen also shined for Team USA. He won gold in men’s figure skating singles, becoming the first Asian American man to earn an Olympic medal in the event.
Already a star going into the Games, the US-born freestyle skier Eileen Gu won hero status in China after bagging two gold medals and one silver for the host country.
There were some more humbling moments too.
Snowboarder Shaun White, the face of modern winter sports, closed out his Olympic career in Beijing last week without making the podium.
US star skier Mikaela Shiffrin didn’t manage to win an individual gold at the Games despite being a favorite going into the competition.
A long-running scandal also plagued the games. Last week, reports emerged that the Russian figure skater prodigy Kamila Valieva had tested positive for a banned heart medication before the Games. The 15-year-old missed out on a second gold medal Thursday, and stands to lose gold in the team event if she is found to have committed a doping offense.
One of the topics dominating the coverage in the run-up to the Games was the Chinese government’s treatment of the ethnic Uyghurs, described as genocide by the US government. Beijing has repeatedly denied any mistreatment of the largely Muslim minority, insisting its actions in the western region of Xinjiang have been taken to combat terrorism.
In the opening ceremony, Chinese officials delivered a defiant message to the world leaders boycotting the Games by choosing a Uyghur cross-country skier from Xinjiang to deliver the ceremonial flame, a moment which often carries symbolic weight.
Other noteworthy moments included a meeting between International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis player who vanished from public view last year after appearing to accuse a former top government official of sexual assault. In a monitored interview with the French newspaper L’Equipe during the Games, Peng denied making the allegation.
A L’Equipe journalist who interviewed Peng later said he couldn’t say for sure whether she was in fact free and safe.
In addition, Russia’s massing of troops on the border with Ukraine pierced the Olympic bubble.
The coronavirus pandemic, which first broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan, also hung over the games, with testing confusion and concerns about quarantine conditions adding another layer of stress for already anxious athletes. Complaints were lodged by athletes and their teams about the treatment and the standards inside Beijing’s so-called quarantine hotels.
As the lights go down on two weeks of Olympic drama, sports fans should not fear. While these Games may be at an end, the Paralympics in Beijing are still ahead.
They kick off March 4 and end March 13.