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IOC president declares the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games closed – CBC Sports

Published

3 years ago

February 20, 2022

After an action-packed 16 days of competition, the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games were officially declared closed on Sunday during the the closing ceremony at the city’s National Stadium, also known as the “Bird’s Nest” for its unique web of 35 kilometres of twisting steel.

As the ceremony, which was shorter than usual due to cold weather conditions, drew to a close, International Olympic Committee head Thomas Bach not only addressed the athletes, but also made a wish for peace as geopolitical tensions simmer around the world due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We were deeply touched how you were wishing and cheering for your competitors to achieve their best as well. You not only respected each other. You supported each other. You embraced each other, even if your countries are divided by conflict,” Bach said.

“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 the Olympic Games is stronger than the forces that want to divide us: you give peace a chance.

May the political leaders around the world be inspired by your example of solidarity and peace.”

WATCH | Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games closing ceremony:

Olympic Winter Games Morning – Closing Ceremony | Beijing 2022

5 hours ago

Duration 3:35:00

Watch CBC’s coverage of the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022 as the festivities come to a close on Day 16. 3:35:00

While Russian President Vladimir Putin was in attendance for the opening ceremony, many countries, including Canada, announced diplomatic boycotts of Beijing 2022 over concerns of human rights abuses in China.

Bach continued to strike a political tone when he acknowledged the difficulties brought by the pandemic and urged the international community to ensure vaccines are made available “for everybody around the world.”

He then declared the Beijing Games closed.

“In accordance with tradition, I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in Milano Cortina, Italy, to celebrate with all of us the 25th Olympic Winter Games.”

Volunteers carrying each country’s flag then gathered together in the centre of the stadium as the Olympic rings rose from the ground, passing the snowflake cauldron as it was lowered. As the children once again sang the Olympic theme, as well as the Beijing 2022 theme You and Me, the Olympic torch was extinguished.

WATCH | Olympic cauldron extinguished to close Beijing 2022:

Olympic cauldron extinguished to close Beijing 2022

2 hours ago

6:28

Children sang as the snowflake cauldron was extinguished and a magnificent firework show lit up Beijing. 6:28

As is customary, the ceremony ended with a fireworks display that included the Olympic rings, as well as the Chinese characters and English words “One world one family.” A dance of golden dragons gave way to a golden ring.

Earlier, after Bach and China’s President Xi Jinping entered the stadium, the closing ceremony got underway in much the same way as the opening ceremony ended: with the lighting of the unconventional Olympic cauldron, which for Beijing was in fact a giant snowflake with the Olympic torch inside.

The snowflake theme that ran throughout the opening ceremony continued for the closing ceremony, as children using snowflake-shaped lanterns lit up an emblem on the stadium floor inspired by the Chinese character for “winter.”

The lanterns also marked the Chinese tradition of lighting lanterns in the days leading up to and following the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, known as the Yuanxiao Festival. The closing ceremony fell on the 20th day of the Lunar New Year.

After the Chinese flag was raised and anthem played, the athletes began parading in to the stadium. Team Canada was led by speed skater Isabelle Weidemann, three-time medallist at these Games, who was unveiled as flag-bearer Sunday morning in Beijing (Saturday evening in Canada). Weidemann won a medal of each colour — gold, silver and bronze — as part of a successful Team Canada campaign that saw the country claim a total of 26 medals: four gold, eight silver and 14 bronze.

WATCH | Isabelle Weidemann carries Canadian flag into closing ceremony:

Isabelle Weidemann carries Canadian flag into closing ceremony

2 hours ago

2:20

The Canadian speed skater was named Canada’s flag bearer after winning gold, silver and bronze medals at Beijing 2022. 2:20

Just over 100 of the 215 Canadian athletes who competed were still in Beijing at the end of the Games to attend the closing ceremony. Many who finished competing early on left Beijing in accordance with strict COVID-19 safety protocols that were in place for the entire Games, including a so-called closed loop system that kept athletes and coaches, officials and media bubbled together.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement on Sunday congratulating the country’s Olympians.

“As we celebrate our Olympians and their 26 medals, let us also recognize the years of training, sacrifice, and perseverance it took them to get this far and the many challenges they’ve had to overcome, including the COVID-19 pandemic,” Trudeau said. “With courage and dedication, all members of Team Canada delivered incredible performances at this year’s Games, inspiring Canadians of all ages.”

Athletes from Canada march into the stadium during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Sunday in Beijing. (Natacha Pisarenko/The Associated Press)

As the athletes paraded in, a traditional Chinese knot appeared on the floor of the stadium to mark China’s connection with the world and the Olympic spirit of togetherness. The knot was rendered with augmented reality (AR) technology and presented in high definition — no physical knot was present.

As the athletes walked in to the sounds of Beethoven’s infamous Ode to Joy, giant skates in the shapes of the 12 animals that make up the Chinese zodiac zoomed around the stadium floor.

Short-track speed skater Charles Hamelin, who competed in his fifth and final Games and won gold in the men’s relay for his sixth Olympic medal, said the team is still relishing its win.

“We’re still on the roll of partying and having fun with everyone,” Hamelin said before marching into the stadium. “It’s something that you get [to do] only one time when you’re at the Olympics.”

As is custom at the closing ceremony, a medal ceremony for a late event was held. In this case, cross-country skiing medals were awarded for the women’s 30 km and men’s 50 km mass start free events. At previous Olympics, a medal ceremony was only held for a men’s event. But beginning last summer in Tokyo, medals were handed out in a men’s and women’s event in an ongoing effort to bring more gender equity to the Games.

After a moment to recognize the Games’ many volunteers and the introduction of the new members of the IOC’s athletes’ commission, a little bit of Canadian content appeared in the soundtrack to a video montage of top moments from the Games. The highlight reel went along to the song You Can Get It by Hamilton, Ont., band Arkells, featuring K.Flay.

Before the Greek flag was raised and anthem played was the customary moment of remembrance. For Beijing, that included a willow twig, which is given when two good friends part ways, a custom that dates back thousands of years in China. The Chinese character for “willow” is also a homophone for the character for “staying,” or “longing,” making the willow a symbol not only of friendship, but also of longing for loved ones.

As the Olympic flag was lowered, the Malanhua’er Children’s Choir from the mountains of Fuping country, Hebei province, returned for the closing ceremony to sing the Olympic anthem. As it is customary to wear new clothes after the Lunar New Year, the children wore different costumes that were adorned with patterns representing prosperity for the new year.

The children sang the Olympic anthem in Greek, which took them three months to learn.

The flag was then handed over to the mayors of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, which will host the next Olympic Winter Games in 2026. Organizers note that Milano Cortina 2026 will mark the first time an Olympics will be hosted by two cities, two regions (Lombardia and Veneto) and two provinces (Trento and Bolzano), representing two distinct but complementary areas: the city and the mountains.

Just as Beijing 2022 marked the first time a city has hosted two Olympics (the first was the 2008 Summer Games), Cortina hosted the Winter Olympic in 1956.

Organizers of the 2026 Games had a few moments in the closing ceremony to preview the event, and chose to highlight the main vision: harmony between mankind and nature. First, the Italian anthem was interpreted by two musicians from the two regions, singer Malika Ayane and violinist Giovanni Andrea Zanon.

Viewers were then taken on a video tour of the two cities alongside two unknown characters, who then appeared live in the National Stadium to perform a pas de deux as the souls of the mountains and the city, showing the importance of a “respectful dialogue” between mankind and nature.

In the spirit of sustainability, some 92 per cent of venues for the 2026 Games already exist.

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NHL roundup: Hurricanes beat Flyers 6-4 for seventh straight win

Published

22 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas scored a go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 on Tuesday night.

It was the seventh straight win for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Jack Roslovic, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Necas typically saves his game-winners for overtime, with nine in his career, but he was able to take care of business in regulation with his team-best seventh goal of the season.

Travis Konecny scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia.

Aleksei Kolosov made 28 saves for the Flyers, who trailed 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 but kept coming back. Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net allowing four goals on just 16 shots.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

—

SABRES 5 SENATORS 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and Buffalo snapped a three-game skid with a win over Ottawa.

Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.

Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.

—

MAPLE LEAFS 4 BRUINS 0

TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in Toronto’s 4-0 victory over Boston.

Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists as Toronto connected three times on the power play. William Nylander and Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist each. Mitch Marner had two assists of his own. Steven Lorentz rounded out the scoring into the empty net.

The Leafs played without captain Auston Matthews, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops for Boston, which was coming off consecutive weekend shutouts of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.

Toronto’s porous 31st-ranked power play scored for the second time in as many games at 8:44 of the second period when Rielly fired through a screen. Nylander banked in his team-leading 10th goal of the season on another man advantage 1:14 later for a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins entered the game 8-0-0 in the regular season against their Atlantic Division rival dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.

—

FLAMES 3 CANADIENS 2 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Matt Coronato scored twice as Calgary came back to defeat Montreal in overtime.

Coronato tied the game with 2:46 remaining in regulation when he cruised into the slot and went off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into the extra period.

Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won its second game in seven outings. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots.

Joel Armia — with a short-handed goal — and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal (4-7-2). Armia also provided an assist, while Sam Montembeault made 32 saves as the Canadiens’ losing streak extended to four games.

Zary opened the scoring with his third 4:20 into the second period when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot past Montembeault.

Gallagher then slipped the puck between Wolf’s pads at 16:23 to level the score with his fifth of the season.

—

BLUES 3 LIGHTNING 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 3-2.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his 149th career win moving him past Jake Allen for second place in franchise history, just two wins behind Mike Liut’s 151.

Nick Perbix and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning who have lost three straight games.

Kyrou scored his fourth goal of the season 8:51 into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Toropchenko scored his first goal of the season with 1:35 remaining in the second period to put St. Louis ahead 2-1 after Sundqvist tied the game with his first of the season 7:47 into the period.

—

ISLANDERS 4 PENGUINS 3 (SO)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and New York rallied past Pittsburgh 4-3.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the shootout and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.

Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.

—

KINGS 5 WILD 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-1.

Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles, which was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-0 win in Nashville a night earlier. David Rittich made 23 saves for the Kings.

Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2022 by Minnesota for a first-round pick draft pick and defenceman Brock Faber, scored his seventh goal of the season. He now has three goals and six assists in his last seven games against the Wild.

Minnesota, which had won three in a row, opened the scoring in the second period on Zach Bogosian’s first goal of the season. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for the Wild.

—

JETS 3 UTAH 0

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter scored twice in his 900th NHL career game and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves to help Winnipeg defeat Utah 3-0.

It was Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season and 39th of this career.

Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets. Adam Lowry assisted on both goals by Niederreiter.

Utah ended a run of picking up points in three consecutive games (1-0-2).

Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots for Utah in its second stop on a four-game road trip.

Jets winger Kyle Connor had his franchise-record, season-opening points streak end at 12 games.

—

AVALANCHE 6 KRAKEN 3

DENVER (AP) — Arturri Lehkonen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in his season debut and Nathan MacKinnon had five assists as Colorado beat Seattle 6-3.

Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Chris Wagner also scored for Colorado.

Cale Makar had two assists but the star defenceman barely played in the second half of the game and appeared to be slowed by an apparent injury during a brief shift.

MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games.

Lehkonen played for the first time since off-season shoulder surgery.

Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.

—

CANUCKS 5 DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brock Boeser, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist apiece, and Quinn Hughes recorded his 300th career assist in Vancouver’s victory over Anaheim.

Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson also scored and Hughes had three assists for the Canucks, who have won six of eight. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in Vancouver’s sixth consecutive win over the Ducks.

Olen Zellweger scored a power-play goal early in the first period for Anaheim, which has lost seven of nine. Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots.

Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko took shots from teammates again after the morning skate, and he could return to practice this week. The Southern California native and 2023-24 Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury incurred late last season.

—

SHARKS 2 BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Wennberg scored 3:11 into overtime and San Jose celebrated the return of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with a win over Columbus.

Defenceman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the pre-season. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.

San Jose goalie Vitek Vanacek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves.

Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game. Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

2 days ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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