Winter Olympics: Closing ceremony marks ends of 2022 Beijing Games

The Beijing Winter Olympics ended in a touching ceremony on Sunday.

Over 3000 athletes competed in over 100 events over the past two weeks.

The president of the International Olympic Committee called for political leaders around the world to be inspired by the athletes.

He said that the unifying power of the Olympic Games is stronger than the forces that want to divide us.

The athletes had given peace a chance, with his comments coming amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Every one of you tried to achieve your best. He said that they were touched by how you were wishing for your competitors to achieve their best as well.

Even if your countries are divided by conflict, you embraced each other.

If we want to finally overcome this epidemic, we must be quicker.

We must aim higher, we must be stronger, and we must stand together. Vaccination is about caring for each other.

In this Olympic spirit of solidarity, we call on the international community to give equal access to vaccines for everyone around the world.

The Great Britain left Beijing with two medals - gold in the women's curling and silver in the men's event.

The flagbearer at the closing ceremony was Bruce Mouat, who led the men's rink.

The next Olympics will take place in Milan-Cortina in Italy in 2026. Beijing will host the Winter Paralympics on 4 March.

Valieva saga overshadows Games

The controversy surrounding Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva and her failed drug test overshadowed the Beijing Games.

The positive test came to light after the Russian Olympic Committee won gold in the team figure skating, with the 15-year-old becoming the first woman to land a quadruple jump at an Olympic Games.

The medal ceremony was delayed after it was revealed that Valieva had tested positive for a banned drug.

After a series of appeals and re-appeals, Valieva was allowed to compete in the remaining individual events, but it has led to questions about her coaching team and the fairness of children competing in Olympic events.

None of the podium athletes have received their medals, with the IOC asking the Wada to investigate the positive result.

Two-time Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold said that every athlete wants a fair playing field and that they want to protect the health and mental health of athletes.

Remembering athletes are humans is the biggest thing I have learned. We need to protect our young athletes.

There have been moments of light. Norway will leave Beijing with a record 16 gold medals and 37 in total, having dominated in the snow.

Eileen Gu became one of the stars of the Games with gold in the big air and halfpipe, while snowboarder Shaun White ended his career on the slopes.

The biggest sporting surprise was America's Mikaela Shiffrin, a heavy pre-Games favourite to clean up in the skiing events. She crashed out of three of her best events and didn't get a medal.

While the Winter Olympics have been a success for China, who secured their best Winter Olympics medal haul, questions over human rights abuses and the safety of tennis player Peng Shuai that dominated the build-up to the competition remain.

Mixed emotions for Team GB

This is the lowest medal total since 2010 when they won a single gold in the women's skeleton.

It was the first time since 2002 that Britain did not win a skeleton medal, despite a target of three to seven.

Charlotte Bankes, Laura Deas and Dave Ryding were among the medal hopes, but struggled for rhythm and form in Beijing.

The first medal of the Games went to Britain in the men's curling on Saturday.

Sally Munday, the chief executive of UK Sport, said the greatest progress can come if we really learn from disappointment.

The last 24 hours has created real joy, but there are a number of athletes who will leave Beijing disappointed.

No-one will be more disappointed than the athletes themselves, as many did not achieve the results they came for.

We knew that Beijing 2022, like nothing they had experienced before, would be a challenge.

We know that the jeopardy that makes sports on snow and ice such a compelling spectacle for those of us watching is also a recipe for uncertainty. Some of our medal hopes were prevented from achieving their dreams by this.