Pyeongchang finished with a bang at the 2018 Winter Olympics Sunday night. The
Koreans capped out the 18 days of exciting moments with a fantastic closing ceremony
at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.
The ceremony began with another countdown that finished with
fireworks before skiers and skaters entered the stadium to a dance under
digital imagining. They completed their skit with the shape of the Olympic flag
before the president of the Olympic committee and the president of Korea took their
place in the stadium.
The national flag was raised while the anthem was sung by
Jang Se-ik and a children’s choir
before Yang Tee-hwan on guitar rocked out playing a modern
piece of Classical music before a number of women were shown on center stage
playing traditional Korean stringed instruments. A band came out with a
drummer, guitarist and a woman playing an èrhú. A Pagoda took place above the
band before dancers came in surrounding a woman in traditional dress.
A video was then shown of the athletes competing in the 16-day
competition before the flags of the participating countries flowed in carried
by athletes voted to walk in with them. The athletes then walked in to the
stadium as one showing unity from the beginning to the end of the Winter
Olympics.
Intel’s drones made an appearance once again in the sky
taking shape of the mascot of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics where they
took the shape of a heart. As the athletes took their seats in the stands, the
performances continued with a group carrying what looked like snowflakes and
large puppets including the figure of a turtle with its shell lit up. The turtle
was moved around in its natural form before it took a digital appearance on the
ground.
The medal ceremony for the women’s 30km cross country skiing
classic and the men’s 50 km classic were given out on stage to the gold, silver
and bronze medalists of each event. Thomas Bach, President of the International
Olympic Committee and Gian Franco Kasper, president of the International ski
federation gave out the medals to the competitors.
A dance montage proceeded the ceremony with seconds counting
from 30 to 60 before men dressed in black and white took stage with a pole
rising vertically. Digital graphics were once again a notice in their performance
before they finished in front of the pole. Two new members of the International
Olympic Committee’s athletes commission came out with four members representing
the volunteers of the Olympics.
Korean pop musical artist CL took the stage and energized the
crowd before the flags of Greece and Olympics were raised during their anthems.
The IOC president returned to the stage with the mayor of Pyeongchang and the mayor
of Beijing in the Olympic flag handover. Beijing will hold the next winter
games in 2022. The Chinese national anthem was played followed by the presentation
of the next winter games. The Chinese put on a show with a lit up panda bear and
dancers accompanying it.
Futuristic elements played their part in the show with video
graphics showing whales, deer and geese. The performance finished with images
of people around the world on giant moving screens that then showed the logos
of every winter games before videos were shown of Chinese workers, athletes,
women and children were inviting everyone to come to their country’s capitals
in 2022. President Xi Jinping sent a message of welcome to China in four years
to celebrate the XXIV Olympiad.
The president of Pyeongchang 2018 came to the podium with
IOC President Bach to make a speech to the crowd on how well the Olympics went
and their success and permanent place in history. Bach called the 2018 games as
“the games of new horizons” with new events and digital imaging taking precedence
during the 16 days of competition.
After officially closing the 2018 Winter Olympics, the
ceremony continued with two men coming out to entertain the crowd with
traditional Korean dancing a with the banging of a brass drum. A DJ came out and
a number of off road vehicles rolled onto the stage lighting up the center.
They were followed by Korean boy band EXO who danced away while singing one of their
popular song “Growl”. They then sang “Power” which saw the stands light up with
the vehicles doing the same. Fireworks blasted outside the stadium during their
performance in a grand finale.
The children from the opening ceremony returns with a large
box following them while each carried a large ball lit in white. The box opened
up showing a snow globe which then set up a finish to extinguish the Olympic
flame and get the party underway. All the athletes came out to dance the night
away with a DJ and guitarist going at it.
Martin Garrix took over playing his hit song “Forever” that
go the crowd on its feet while the athletes continued to party with their teammates
and other athletes from other countries around the world. The ceremony lasted
over two hours in what many considered to be the best ending to the XXIII
Winter Olympics.
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