BEIJING – At Sunday's Closing Ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, the keynote speeches were stuffed with words like unity and togetherness and solidarity. While that wasn't surprising at an event that promotes shared ideals, it didn't reflect what made these Winter Games unique.
The Beijing Games were ushered out the same way they began: from a safe distance and behind a mask. Like the Opening Ceremony 16 days earlier, the Closing Ceremony ended with a barrage of fireworks at the Bird's Nest stadium. The mood was just as celebratory, but this time, it felt more like a sigh of relief.
The highly restrictive "closed loop'' functioned as intended, with 1.8 million COVID tests producing only 437 positive results. It also left these Olympics feeling strangely isolated, separated from the rest of this massive city by concrete barricades and metal fencing.
The athletes, as always, did their part to make it a memorable two weeks. There were breakout stars like Eileen Gu, an American-born freeskier who competed for China and became an international sensation. Speedskater Erin Jackson of the U.S. became the first Black woman to win an individual event at the Winter Games. Snowboarder Shaun White said a tearful goodbye to his sport, and China delighted the home crowd with nine gold medals, its best-ever showing at a Winter Games.
The controversies didn't go away. In fact, they multiplied. Another Russian doping scandal overtook the women's figure skating competition, joining the outcry over China's authoritarian policies and human rights record.
Sunday, when the athletes walked into the Bird's Nest for the last time, they were just grateful the Games made it over the finish line.
"It's fortunate we were able to have an Olympic Games,'' U.S. hockey player Hilary Knight said. "It's scary to wake up every day thinking, 'Am I going to test positive, from something I can't see?'
"It was devastating living with that anxiety. But it's wonderful we were able to have this as safely as we did, and be able to represent our country on a world stage.''