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Good morning! The most locked-down Olympic Games in history came to a close on Sunday, and Canada is leaving Beijing with 26 medals – including four golds. The next Games will take place in 2024 in Paris, France.
Flagbearer Isabelle Weidemann of Team Canada (c) walks in the Athletes parade during the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing Games.David Ramos/Getty Images
Here’s what happened overnight and this morning:
- Athletes are preparing to leave Beijing’s “closed loop” after fireworks wrap up an eventful Winter Games. The world’s best winter athletes walked into Sunday’s closing ceremony to the tune of Ode To Joy, Team Canada decked in off-white lululemon gear and draped in Canadian flags. Speed skater Isabelle Weidemann carried the Canadian flag into Beijing’s National Stadium.
- Canada leaves the Beijing Olympics with a total of 26 medals: four gold, eight silver and 14 bronze. The final medal came when the four-man bobsleigh team took bronze. Catch up on this and all the other medal moments by Team Canada in three minutes.
- Now that the Games are ending, and some 16,000 athletes, organizers, journalists and other visitors are heading home, concerns turn to what malware and other problems those who failed to heed the Games’ cybersecurity precautions might be carrying with them.
- Climate change is shortening the already short list of Winter Games venues. If Vancouver or Calgary wish to join the select group of repeat Winter Olympics hosts, they might want to bid before temperatures rise too much.
Olympic workers in protective clothing help travellers at Beijing Capital International airport after the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 21, 2022, in Beijing, China.Frank Augstein/The Associated Press
Globe on the ground
The Globe’s Rachel Brady reports from Beijing as athletes begin to leave China’s ‘closed loop’ Olympics. “Let’s not gloss over how difficult these last two years were for Team Canada, that in my estimation, had to endure the most restrictive sort of COVID-19 protocols of any nation,” said Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker. The committee is “completely satisfied” with Canada’s medal count of 26, including four golds. No Canadian athlete missed out on an opportunity to compete because of COVID-19 protocols. See the best photos from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
What if they held an Olympics and no one cared?, asks The Globe’s Cathal Kelly. Beijing 2022 set out to answer that question. Now the question for Canada should be something basic: convincing Canadians that the Olympic project is still worthwhile on its own merits.
Where Canada stands
COVID-19 and the Games
- Sunday’s closing ceremonies marked the end of the pandemic’s second Olympic Games and the most locked-down Games in history. The movements of athletes, media and workers were heavily restricted while masks and daily COVID-19 tests were also required. There were only 463 positive COVID-19 tests reported among thousands of people who arrived in Beijing for the Games.
Looking for more up-to-the-moment COVID-19 news? Check out our coronavirus newsletter, sent weekdays and Sundays.
As seen at the Games:
Canadian biathlete Scott Gow celebrates the end of the Games with an Instagram message saying he’s “always thankful for the opportunity to represent Canada.”
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