Taiwanese athletes on Sunday took part in the Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Italy, with cross-country skier Sophia Velicer serving as the team’s flag bearer.
The 26-year-old led the parade of Taiwanese athletes at the Verona Arena, including figure skater Li Yu-hsiang, and bobsledders Lin Sin-rong and Lin Song-en, during the ceremony, which began at 8:30pm in the historic Italian city.
Earlier in the day, Velicer competed in the women’s 50km classical cross-country skiing event, finishing 22nd in a time of 2 hours, 34 minutes and 1 second, which ranked as the best performance in the endurance event by a competitor from an Asian country.
Photo: the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee via CNA
Velicer said she was very honored to be the flag bearer and to highlight the hard work of the other team members.
She also thanked her fans for their many “heartwarming” messages on social media.
It was great to represent Taiwan, she said, encouraging young athletes to pursue sporting opportunities, no matter how crazy or unattainable they might seem.
Photo: Reuters
The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, made other notable achievements, apart from Velicer’s standing as Asia’s top cross-country skier at the Winter Olympics.
Li achieved a new personal best in the men’s figure skating short program and delivered a no-mistakes run in his free program, while speed skater Chen Ying-chu finished 11th in the women’s 500m, setting a new record for Taiwan in the event at the Olympics.
Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry lauded Milan-Cortina Games as a “new kind of Winter Games” as she declared them closed.
Photo: Reuters
These Olympics used mainly existing venues for 16 days of medal-filled action spread for hundreds of kilometers across the Italian Alps.
“You delivered a new kind Winter Games and set a new standard for the future,” Coventry told her Italian hosts at the closing ceremony at the Verona Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.
After Coventry spoke, the two cauldrons in Milan and in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the chic mountain resort that hosted the women’s alpine skiing, were extinguished to formally signal the end of the Olympics.
Photo: AP
Earlier, the Olympic flag was handed over to the leaders of the two regions that are to host the next Winter Olympics in the French Alps in 2030.
Fittingly, Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo was awarded one of the six gold medals he won at the Games during the closing ceremony.
Klaebo made history by winning all six races in which he was entered — and his 11 career golds are a Winter Olympics record.
In the final events, Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu won the gold that had eluded her at these Games, while the US beat Canada in an overtime thriller to win the men’s ice hockey title for the first time for 46 years.
Gu had won two silver medals in Italy, but her favored halfpipe event always looked the likeliest to deliver the third gold of her career.
The 22-year-old delivered a stunning performance, soaring high above the lip of the halfpipe and executing her tricks with precision.
She edged out her China teammate Li Fanghui, while Britain’s Zoe Atkin took bronze.
In doing so, Gu became the most decorated freestyle skier in the history of the Winter Games.
“In all three events I showcased my best skiing and as far as performance goes, that’s all I can ask for — to be able to show the world the best that women’s skiing has to offer at the moment, that it really counts,” Gu said.
“I’m the most decorated freeskier of all time, male or female,” she added.
In a keenly-awaited men’s ice hockey showdown, Jack Hughes scored the winning goal 1 minute 41 seconds into overtime to give the US men a 2-1 victory and their first Olympic triumph since the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ win over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid, New York.
Matt Boldy put the US ahead in the first period before Cale Makar equalized for the Canadians.
Once the game went into overtime, Hughes applied the golden touch to send his teammates and the US fans into raptures.
US coach Mike Sullivan said his squad “was built with personality in mind.”
“You know, we were loaded with personality up and down our lineup,” he said. “There are whisky drinkers and milk drinkers, and we got a lot of whisky drinkers on this team.”
With US President Donald Trump ratcheting up the tensions with his North American neighbor over the past year, the game had an added political edge.
“Congratulations to our great U.S.A. Ice Hockey team. THEY WON THE GOLD. WOW!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “WHAT A GAME!”
Meanwhile, the White House posted a picture of a bald eagle pouncing on a Canada goose.
Norway finished atop the medals table with 18 golds and 41 medals overall. The US were second with 12 golds and the Netherlands third with 10, the same number as host nation Italy.
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