Beijing 2022 Paralympics Days Eight/Nine/Closing Ceremony (Catch-Up)

Another catch-up to end the Beijing 2022 Paralympics which covers days eight and nine including the Closing Ceremony.

Medals 

Alpine Skiing- Double joy for Austria and triple for the Aigner family in the Women's Slalom Vision Impaired as V.Aigner (Guide- E.Aigner) took GOLD ahead of B.Aigner (Guide- K.Sykora) scooped SILVER. A.Rexova (Guide E.Trajcikova) (SVK) collected BRONZE while GB's Menna Fitzpatrick (Guide -Gary Smith) and Millie Knight (Guide-Brett Wild) finished fourth and eighth. 

The Women's Slalom Standing saw E.Aarsjoe (SWE) win GOLD after finishing clear of M.Zhang (CHN) who took SILVER while A.M.Rieder (GER) claimed BRONZE. 

GOLD for A.L.Forster (GER) in the Women's Slalom Sitting as she finished ahead of the China duo of W.Zhang who took SILVER while S.Liu claimed BRONZE and GB's S.Brownlee finished ninth. 

The Men's Slalom Vision Impaired saw GOLD won by G.Bertagnolli (Guide- A.Ravelli) (ITA) as he finished ahead of J.Aigner (Guide-M.Fleischmann) (AUT) who scooped SILVER while M.Haraus (Guide-M.Hudik) (SVK) claimed BRONZE and GB's Neil Simpson (Guide - Andrew Simpson) finished ninth. 

In the Men's Slalom Standing, A.Bauchet (FRA) stormed to GOLD ahead of J.Liang (CHN) who took SILVER while A.Hall (NZL) collected BRONZE and GB's J.Whitley finished eighth. 

The Men's Slalom Sitting saw J.Pedersen (NOR) win GOLD as he finished clear of N.De Langen (NED) who took SILVER while R.De Silvestro (ITA) collected BRONZE. GB's D.Sheen and A.Slegg failed to finish.

 

Cross Country Skiing -The Men's Middle Distance Vision Impaired (Free) saw B.McKeever (Guide-G.Nishikawa) (CAN) win GOLD ahead of Z.Modin (Guide- E Joensson Haag) (SWE) who took SILVER while D Suiarko (Guide- O.Nikonovych) (UKR) collected BRONZE. 

In the Men's Middle Distance Standing (Free), C.Wang (CHN) won GOLD narrowly ahead of B.Daviet (FRA) who scooped SILVER while J.Cai (CHN) collected BRONZE. 

GOLD was won by L.Kazmaier (Guide- F.Baumann) (GER) in the Women's Middle Distance Vision Impaired (Free) as she finished ahead of Y.Wang (Guide-Y.Li) (CHN) who took SILVER while C.Edlinger (Guide- L.J.Lampl) (AUT) crossed for BRONZE.

The Women's Middle Distance Standing (Free) saw O.Kononova (UKR) take GOLD as she crossed ahead of N.Wilkie (CAN) who sealed SILVER while I.Bui (UKR) collected BRONZE.  

Double joy for China in the Men's Middle Distance Sitting as Z.Mao won GOLD ahead of P.Zheng who took SILVER while G.Romele (ITA) claimed BRONZE and GB's S.Meenagh, C.Deboys, S.Arnold and S.Thomas finished 16th, 21st, 29th and 32nd. 

The Women's Middle Distance Sitting saw H.Wang (CHN) win GOLD ahead of O.Masters (USA) who took SILVER while J.Ma (CHN) claimed BRONZE and GB's H.Gordon finished in 16th. 

In the Mixed 4x2.5km Relay, USA won GOLD as they finished ahead of China who took SILVER while Canada claimed BRONZE. 

GOLD for Ukraine in the Open 4x2.5km Relay as they finished narrowly ahead of France who took SILVER while Norway crossed for BRONZE. 

Ice Hockey - The Open Team GOLD was won by USA as they cruised to a 5-0 win over Canada who took SILVER while China won BRONZE as they eased to a 4-0 victory over Republic of Korea. 

Wheelchair Curling- After Canada took BRONZE on day eight, China won GOLD with an 8-3 win over Sweden who had to settle for SILVER. 

Closing Ceremony 

The Ceremony began with a focus on the Snowflake before a classical interlude at centre stage showcasing a vinyl record featuring the six sports of the Games. 

This led into a montage of action from the last nine days and introduction of the dignitaries- Andrew Parsons (IPC President) & Xi Jinping (President of China). The Chinese national anthem played alongside the raising of the flag of China. 

A mass of volunteers entered the area to line up and welcome the Flagbearers with Neil Simpson carrying the GB flag. Once all the flagbearers had entered the stage and presented, they dispersed to the stands. 

Six chosen volunteers were then presented with awards to represent the thanks for all of the hard work during the Games and a video showcasing such efforts played to the crowd. 

The stage setting returned to the vinyl record showcasing with the theme- 'A Call of Love' to the tune of 'You Raise Me Up' followed by the Paralympic Anthem. Next up was the handover of the Paralympic flag from the Mayor of Beijing to Andrew Parsons and finally to the Mayor of Milan. 

A wonderful rendition of the Italian National Anthem followed with a small introduction video featuring Milan/Cortina. Focus then turned to the speeches by Andrew Parsons and Cai Qi (President of the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee). Andrew Parsons closed the Games with the tradition invitation to meet again at Milan/Cortina in 2026.

A huge clock then appeared at centre stage accompanied by an emphatic drumming performance.

The Ceremony closed with the extinguishing of the Paralympic Flame and a huge firework display.

After four games in the space of a year for Summer/Winter, the blog takes a long break until the transition to Paris 2024.