Snow sports power Norway topped the medals table after 17 days' competitions as the PyeongChang Winter Games lowered the curtain at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium on Sunday.[Special coverage]
Norway's Marit Bjoergen has closed out a remarkable Olympic career in dominant fashion, winning the gold medal in the women's 30-kilometer mass start classic, the final event of PyeongChang 2018.
Bjoergen won Norway's 14th gold medal, equalling the record by one National Olympic Committee at a single Winter Games, set by Canada in 2010 and Germany at this edition.
In total, Norway claimed 14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze medals to finish first at the medals table, followed by Germany on 14 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze medals. Canada and the United States were third and fourth on 11 and 9 golds apiece.
China, next host of the Winter Olympics, finished 16th on 1 gold, six silver and 2 bronze medals.
"Over the past 17 days, we have experienced Olympic Games rooted in tradition and showing the way to the future. They have proved true the words of our founder, Pierre de Coubertin, when he said the Olympic Games are a homage to the past and an act of faith in the future," Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, said in the speech during the closing ceremony held in the 37,000-seat PyeongChang Olympic Stadium.
"We have brought together a record number of National Olympic Committees to participate in Olympic Winter Games. Therefore I can truly say: the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 are the Games of New Horizons.
"We are embracing these new horizons. We offer our hand to everybody to join forces in this faith in the future," Bach said of the PyeongChang Games, which attracted nearly 3,000 athletes from 92 countries and regions.
As for China, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will serve as a great chance to promote the development and popularization of winter sports in China and help build the country into a strong sports power.
"After Beijing's successful bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, more and more athletes from summer sports have joined us in winter sports and they have been training very hard in snow sports," said Gao Zhidan, deputy Chef de Mission of the Chinese Olympic delegation.
Beijing won the bid to co-host the 2022 Winter Olympics with Zhangjiakou.
Beijing, the Chinese capital, will be the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games. It hosted the summer Olympics in 2008.
