After nine action packed days, The Milan Cortina Paralympics comes to an end with the Closing Ceremony. The ceremony took place in the Curling Stadium with the theme of Italian Souvenir and opened with a serene yet upbeat wheelchair light show with the past, present and future combining while also featuring the various sport Pictograms and culminating in the creation of the three Agitos.
The light show extended to an upbeat dance style vibe at the centre of the arena with luminous ropes and a lot of energy displayed in the performance and this was followed by the carrying in of the Italian Flag into the arena. Then the Italian medallists from the Games all gathered near the stage as the flag was raised accompanied by a superb rendition of the Italian National anthem.
A montage of a few highlights from the last nine days and then the two Games Mascots danced in the arena as the volunteers began to enter the arena ahead of the Parade of Athletes and in this the
GB flagbearers were Para Alpine Skiing
Silver medallists
Neil Simpson & Rob Poth and Mixed Doubles Wheelchair
Curler
Jo Butterfield. As is tradition this parade ended with the flag of Italy as the host nation.
Next up was a presentation to thank the Volunteers who have made the Games what it is and this year the total was 18,000. The next section focused on Heritage which opened with an Ice Queen clad Cellist as the arena floor became the mountainous Dolomites with an array of performers with 'ice' blocks who formed a superb scene in the centre of the arena with stunning imagery and visuals.
The carrying of the Paralympic Flag was followed by a rendition of the Paralympic anthem and then the handover section of the ceremony began from Italy to France and the playing of the French National Anthem followed by a rhythmic and visual journey through the French Alps. The next section was the speeches from Giovanni Malago (President of the Milan Cortina Organising Committee) & Andrew Parsons (IPC President) and the latter officially closing the games.
The final section of the ceremony in performance terms was Mystery with a huge snow globe at centre stage which was captioned as the Italian Souvenir and led to the historic double extinguishing of the flames in Milan and Cortina. The grand finale was the ceremony moving to party mode led by Planet Funk.
This blog will now take a break until the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
