Beijing 2022 closes with great fanfare (5)

Members of the Chinese delegation, which won nine gold medals, four silver and two bronze at the Beijing Games, celebrate when they appear at the closing ceremony. ZHANG WEI/CHINA DAILY

Cai Qi, president of the Beijing 2022 organizing committee and secretary of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee, said, "The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 opens a new era for winter sports. It is yet another extraordinary example of humanity coming together for a shared future. The Olympic spirit will live on forever."

The event's closed-loop management, which required all Games participants to move only between their designated accommodation facilities and competition, training and working venues via official transportation that kept them separated from local communities, proved sound and effective. It kept athletes safe within the loop while preventing any imported cases from spreading to the outside public, paving the way for hosting more major international events safely even with the pandemic remaining.