Olympic Games Ceremony - Closing

Closing

In contrast to the opening ceremonies, many elements of the Olympic closing ceremonies gradually developed more by tradition than official mandate.

Like the opening ceremonies, the closing ceremonies begins with the raising of the host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem. The traditional part of the closing ceremonies starts with the "Parade of Flags", where flag bearers from each participating country enter the stadium in single file. Behind them march all of the athletes without any distinction or grouping by nationality. This "Parade of Athletes", the blending of all the athletes, is a tradition that began during the 1956 Summer Olympics at the suggestion of Melbourne schoolboy John Ian Wing, who thought it would be a way of bringing the athletes of the world together as "one nation." (In 2006, the athletes marched in with their countrymen, then dispersed and mingled as the ceremonies went on.)

After all the athletes enter the stadium, the final medals ceremony of the Games is held. The organizing committee of the respective host city, after consulting with the IOC, determines which event will have its medals presented. During the Summer Olympics, this is usually the men's marathon. Traditionally, the men's marathon is held in the last hours of competition on the last day of the Olympics, and the race is won just before the start of the closing ceremony. However, recent Summer Olympiads in Atlanta, Beijing, and London staged the marathon in the early morning due to heat problems in the host city. Since the 2006 Winter Olympics, the medals for the men's 50 km classical cross-country were presented at the closing ceremony.

Next, two other national flags are hoisted on flagpoles one at a time while the corresponding national anthems are played: the flag of Greece to honor the birthplace of the Olympic Games, and the flag of the country hosting the next Summer or Winter Olympic Games. In Sydney and Athens,two Greeks flag was raised,because Greece was the next games host (in 2000) and in 2004,because Greece is hosting the games. Then, while the Olympic Hymn is played, the Olympic Flag that was hoisted during the opening ceremonies is lowered from the flagpole and carried from the stadium.

In what is known as the Antwerp Ceremony (because the tradition began at the Antwerp Games), the mayor of the city that organized the Games transfers a special Olympic Flag to the president of the IOC, who then passes it on to the mayor of the city hosting the next Olympic Games. The receiving mayor then waves the flag eight times. There are three such flags

• The Antwerp flag was presented to the IOC at the 1920 Summer Olympics by the city of Antwerp, Belgium, and was passed on to the next organizing city of the Summer Olympics until the 1988 Games in Seoul.
• The Oslo flag was presented to the IOC at the 1952 Winter Olympics by the city of Oslo, Norway, and is passed on to the next organizing city of the Winter Olympics.
• The Seoul flag was presented to the IOC at the 1988 Summer Olympics by the city of Seoul, South Korea as a replacement for the Antwerp flag.

This tradition posed a particular challenge at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. The flag was passed from Sergio Chiamparino, the mayor of Turin, to Sam Sullivan, the mayor of Vancouver, Canada. Mayor Sullivan, who is a quadriplegic, waved the flag by holding it in one hand and swinging his motorized wheelchair back and forth eight times.

The next host nation then introduces itself with artistic displays of dance and theater representative of that country or city. This tradition began with the 1976 Games.

Afterwards, the president of the Organizing Committee makes a speech. The IOC president then makes a speech before closing the Olympics by saying:

And now, in accordance with tradition, I declare the Games of the Olympiad/ Olympic Winter Games closed, and I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in to celebrate the Games of the Olympiad/ Olympic Winter Games.

Finally, the Olympic Flame is extinguished, marking the end of the Games.