In a beautiful Paralympics Closing Ceremony, where tradition was once again expertly juxtaposed with modern culture, the Paralympics flame was sadly extinguished after 10 superb days of sport.
In a games which have exceeded everyone’s expectations, with record-breaking attendances, and athletes from all over the World competing with “strength, passion and dynamism” (in the words of Commentator Ade Adepitan), the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games came to a close.
26 out of the 49 delegations which attended won at least one medal, with a record number of 20 taking gold.
As for TeamGB, our performances were truly impressive
and we achieved our target of seven medals, whilst competing against the very best in the World!!
After some beautiful and poignant moments during the Ceremony, including an exquisite and highly memorable performance by Pianist Yeaji Kim and Singer Hee Sang Lee, who sang “You Are A Flower” (alongside Yeaji’s guide dog, Chan Mi, who she has described as her best friend, and member of her family),
and superb performances from the spectacular Pop Star Ailee,
the handing over of the Olympic Flag ensued to Chen Jining, the Mayor of Beijing, the host of the Paralympic Winter Games in 2022.
A speech by the President of the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee Lee Hee-beom was beautiful. He spoke of “touching stories of human victory drama showcased by Para athletes throughout these Games, which will be remembered forever in our hearts…” and went on to say “the Paralympic Flame, as it may extinguish, will bring together the world forever in a spirit of peace far beyond the Korean Peninsula.”
The words of International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons were also wonderful, and he paid special tribute to Stephen Hawking, who died this week on March 14th.
Mr Parsons said “One man who had a dream was the late Professor Stephen Hawking, a genius of a man, a pioneer and inspiration to us all. At the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony, Mr Hawking noted that we are all different and that there is no such thing as a standard or run of the mill human being. He urged us all to look at the stars and not at our feet.”