Hailing the Pyeongchang Olympics as “the games of new horizons”, the International Olympics Committee declared the 2018 winter games closed Sunday.
In his speech at the Games’ closing ceremony, IOC president Thomas Bach praised North and South Korea for marching together during the opening ceremony, saying, “You have shown how sport brings people together in our fragile world; you have shown how sport builds bridges,” Bach told the Korean athletes.
Bach handed the Olympic flag to the mayor of Beijing, which will host the next winter Olympics in 2022. The Chinese capital will be the first city to host both the summer and winter Olympic games, after it hosted the summer edition in 2008.
Following his closing speech, Bach posed for photos with a few standout athletes, including Tongan cross-country skier Pita Taufatofua, who attended both ceremonies bare-chested, despite the cold.
South Korean-Chinese boy band EXO performed for the closing ceremony, which included a drone show, fireworks, and the extinguishing of the Olympic torch.
In Photos: Closing Ceremony of 2018 Winter Olympics
President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump lead the U.S. delegation to the closing ceremonies, sitting in the same box as President Moon Jae-In of South Korea and Kim Yong Chol — vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Worker’s Party Central Committee.
Yonhap New Agency reported the North Korea delegation said Pyongyang was willing to hold talks with the United States, but the White House denied that anyone in the U.S. delegation spoke with North Korean officials at the ceremony.
“Ivanka Trump and General Brooks watched in President Moon’s box and Ivanka sat next to the first lady of the Republic of Korea … There was no interaction with the North Korean delegation,” a senior administration official said.
Steve Herman contributed to this report.