Winter Olympics end with glittering closing ceremony

The 20th Winter Olympics have ended with a glittering closing ceremony at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin.

A crowd of over 30,000 were treated to a celebration of the last 16 days and this included musical entertainment from the likes of Andrea Bocelli and Ricky Martin who performed a selection of his hits such as the 1998 FIFA World Cup theme, Cup of Life.

The themes of history and culture were both strongly portrayed, with the carnival featuring prominently, as clowns, acrobats and various other circus acts performed to a much appreciative crowd.

For the Australian team, these Winter Olympics were extremely promising performance wise and they were highlighted by Dale Begg-Smith winning the Gold medal in freestyle moguls skiing.

Australian team Chef de Mission, Ian Chesterman, was pleased with the performance of the athletes at these games.

“We came with the mission of remaining on the nations medal tally and that has been brilliantly achieved,” Australian Team Chef de Mission, Ian Chesterman said on the AOC website.

“There were a number of other outstanding performances that built the growing reputation of Australia as a competitive winter sports nation.”

Chesterman was happy with Australia’s overall haul of two medals, Begg Smith’s Gold and Alisa Camplin’s bronze in freestyle aerials.

“It was great for the Games to come back to Europe. The athletes really enjoyed the Italian experience,” Chesterman said.

Dale Begg-Smith proudly carried the Australian flag, along with 79 others including Italy’s luge champion, Armin Zoeggeller who entered the stadium to a standing ovation from the crowd.

It was Canada’s turn to show the world what it could expect in four years time when Vancouver hosts the 21st Winter Olympics.

Canada’s presentation included representatives from the four native groups The Lil’ Wat (lill-watt) Nation, The Musqueam (muss-kwee-um) Nation, The Squamish (squwa-mish) Nation and The Tsleil-Waututh (tss-layl-wha-tooth) Nation asking the crowd to formally witness the presentation.

There was a display of sports such as curling and ice hockey, both favourite winter past times which are entrenched in Candian culture.

Avril Lavigne performed her single “Who Knows” as a way of capturing what the Canada’s limitless possibilities, fun and welcome.

Of the 80 nations that competed at these Winter Olympics, just 26 enjoyed medal success and this represents only 33% of the nations represented.

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