The closing ceremony of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games began on Sunday at 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. in Belgium), at the Bird’s Nest, the Olympic Stadium in Beijing. At the end of it, the Olympic flame, lit on February 4, will be extinguished.
Belgium was the 9th nation to parade. The flag bearer of the Belgian delegation is Hanne Desmet, bronze medalist in the 1000m in shorttrack.
With Bart Swings’ gold medal in the speed skating mass-start, Belgium leaves Beijing with two medals in its luggage, the 7th and 8th in Belgian history at the Winter Games.
It is only the second time that Belgium has won two medals during the same edition of the Winter Games following Saint-Moritz in 1948. Beijing will pass the torch to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, which will host the Games of February 6 to 22, 2026.
The ceremony in pictures
Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee
The mayors of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo wave the Olympic flag as a handover for the next Games
