Members of the sports teams wait for the rescheduling of the freeski women's aerials qualification event at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, on Feb 13. [Wei Xiaohao/China Daily]

The cheerful atmosphere during the athletes' parade into the closing ceremony, where Olympians, regardless of their different uniforms, all danced and celebrated to the same beat of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, turned the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, into a lively party despite the wintry chill.

According to the traditional protocol of such closing ceremonies, Chen Jining, the mayor of Beijing, handed the Olympic flag to IOC President Bach, who passed it to the mayors of the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, to raise the curtain on the next Winter Olympic Games, which will be hosted by Italy in 2026.