Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, live blog and updates

The Winter Olympics reach their finale in Beijing, with the closing ceremony to officially conclude the Games.

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By Andrew Mcgarry

These have not been a perfect Winter Olympics — weather conditions played more than their part in some events and not everyone has been able to achieve the performances they hoped for at these Games.

There have been some disappointments and injuries in the Australian camp, but despite this, the Australian team has produced its best-ever overall performance at a Winter Olympics.

February 6 was Australia’s best-ever day at a Winter Olympics, where snowboarder Tess Coady won a bronze medal in women’s slopestyle, and then hours later Jakara Anthony held her form and her nerve while flying down the women’s moguls course to clinch Australia’s sixth-ever gold medal at a Winter Games.

All up, Australia won a record four medals in Beijing — one gold, two silver and one bronze.

There a number of near-misses that could have added to the tally, such as Bree Walker’s fifth placing in the mono bob, while Scotty James’ brilliant halfpipe performance came close to giving Australia a third gold medal before Japan’s Ayumu Hirano laid down a truly epic final run to take the Olympic title.

All up, it’s been a great Games for Australia — and who’s to say the team can’t build on this in Milan-Cortina in four year’s time?

By Andrew Mcgarry

By Andrew Mcgarry

Sami Kennedy-Sims has had a long Olympic journey in ski cross, and in her third Winter Olympic Games she has been honoured by being named as Australia’s flag bearer for tonight’s closing ceremony.

In 2013, the Australian had a blood clot in her leg that led to a stroke.

She then