Good morning! And that’s a wrap! With snowflakes and fireworks, the Winter Olympics came to a close at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing this morning. Team Canada won a total of 26 medals, including a final bronze from Justin Kripps and crew in the four-man bobsleigh.
Members of Team Canada celebrate and take photos during the closing ceremony.David Ramos/Getty Images
Here’s what happened overnight and this morning:
- Isabelle Weidemann, a triple medal winner in long-track speed skating, lead Canada as flag-bearer at the closing ceremony this morning. Chinese President Xi Jinping was on hand for the snowflake-themed ceremony at the Bird’s Nest stadium. The spectacle was capped by a 90-second fireworks display that spelled out “one world, one family.”
- Justin Kripps and his crew won bronze in the four-man bobsleigh event, finishing the four-heat race in 3 minutes 55.09 seconds. “The pressure and the buildup at the Games is so intense,” said Kripps. “When you cross that finish line, it’s just this moment where you don’t know for sure and then it all just explodes into a celebration.”
- The Finns knocked off the favoured Russians 2-1 to win the men’s hockey tournament, capturing an Olympic gold medal in hockey for the first time in the country’s history.
Justin Kripps, Ryan Sommer, Cam Stones and Benjamin Coakwell, of Canada, celebrate after the four-man heat at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing.Pavel Golovkin/The Associated Press
- Eve Muirhead led Britain to the Olympic women’s curling gold medal – the first for the sport’s homeland since 2002 – pulling away with a four-ender in the seventh for a record-setting 10-3 victory over Japan.
- The 10-day Winter Paralympics open March 4. The event, which runs until March 13, features five sports: wheelchair curling, snowboarding, hockey, alpine skiing and Nordic skiing (which includes biathlon and cross-country). About 600 athletes are expected to compete, 50 or so from Canada.
Canada leaves the Beijing Olympics with a total of 26 medals: four gold, eight silver and 14 bronze. The final medal came when the four-man bobsleigh team took bronze. Catch up on this and all the other medal moments by Team Canada in three minutes.
The Globe and Mail
Globe on the ground
Ahead of the closing ceremony, The Globe’s Rachel Brady spoke with Canada’s flag-bearer, speed skater Isabelle Weidemann. “I never expected to be coming home with three medals, let alone have that honour of holding the flag,” said Weidemann.
How do we get people to care about the Olympics again? Team Canada did its part and won 26 medals. Unfortunately, getting this country whipped up about the Games isn’t the sweet breeze it used to be, writes The Globe’s Cathal Kelly.
Where Canada stands
COVID-19 and the Games
- About 125 people in Canada’s delegation of 555 athletes, coaches, support and mission staff had contracted the virus in the weeks before the opening ceremony, according to Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker. Of Canada’s 215 athletes, just figure skater Keegan Messing was forced to miss an event. (He missed the team event but made it to Beijing in time for men’s singles.) “Our goal was to ensure no athlete was deprived of an opportunity to compete,” Shoemaker said. “I feel quite good with how we handled that.”
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As seen at the Games:
The Globe and Mail
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