How to watch the Closing Ceremony

The details of the closing ceremony in Beijing are closely guarded. The rather bland title, “Together for a Common Future”, doesn’t reveal much. But based on ceremonies in the recent past, there are a few things we can expect when the event kicks off at 8pm on Sunday in Beijing (7am ET).

[In the United States, you can watch the ceremony on NBC or its streaming platform, Peacock.]

Athletes will come together.

Unlike the opening ceremony, when athletes march with their national delegations, athletes attending the closing ceremony will enter the stadium en masse, symbolically showing that all we are all one. (In reality, teams tend to cluster together.) Elana Meyers Taylor, who finished third in Saturday’s two-woman cycling race, presented her medals in four Olympics. consecutively and make her The most beautifully decorated Black Winter Olympianwill carry the American flag. She missed the role at the opening ceremony after tested positive for coronavirus days earlier.

There will be swagger.

Host countries love to host a show, although in Tokyo last summer the ceremony was reduced a bit because of the pandemic. The closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing featured international musical acts such as Plácido Domingo, Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis. But because of pandemic travel restrictions, Sunday’s event is likely to be a domestic issue.

Elements of the 2008 event that could be repeated this year are traditional Chinese music, circus performers, and references to the lucky Chinese number 8.

Oh, and the national anthems will be played and various flags raised and lowered.

There will be speeches.

Some dignitaries will appreciate this Games in particular and the Olympic movement in general. Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, will be one of them. He will be introduced as “Sir Thomas Bach, gold medalist in fencing in 1976”.

Milan-Cortina 2026, the next presenter, will have a segment.

The host of the next Olympics always has about 10 minutes to host a mini show of his own. This year it is the Italian team representing Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. It will be difficult to overcome the surprise appearance in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 of the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, Dress up as Super Mario.

The fire will go out.

The cauldron will be used, signaling the end of the Game. It will be a moment of profound dignity. Like the night in London 2012 when the old group Take That burst into flames. Or in Sochi 2014, when a giant puppet bear took the title.

See you in Milan!