Thread by @AP

After sixteen days and 109 events, the #Beijing2022 Olympics are coming to an end. At the closing ceremony, China will pass the baton to the next Winter Games host: Italy.
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The parade of athletes has started. Athletes from 91 countries competed in the Games.
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An LED screen at the center of the National Stadium — 11,600 square meters in size — allows for visual effects throughout the closing ceremony.

As Beijing says farewell to the Winter Games, lighted, green willow twigs are carried to the center of the stadium. The branches symbolize longing and are given as a gift between parting friends in ancient Chinese culture.
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Beijing hands the Olympic flag to Milan-Cortina, the next host of the Winter Games. After three consecutive hosts in Asia, the Olympics will move next to Europe.
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The Olympic flame is extinguished, marking the end of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. The planet’s most global sporting event is off to the West for the foreseeable future with no chance of returning to this corner of the world until at least 2030.
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