OCA Vice President Timothy Fok closes Harbin 2025 AWG
Harbin, China, February 14, 2025: Love was all around at the closing ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games on St. Valentine’s Day at the Harbin International Conference Centre on Friday evening.
In a beautifully detailed and choreographed show, which included all the necessary formalities and protocol for a closing ceremony, the people of Harbin said goodbye to the Asian Winter Games and athletes from a record 34 National Olympic Committees waved farewell to the host city.
With the fun and the festive feel of the opening ceremony on February 7 still fresh in the mind, the directors this time hit just the right notes by incorporating moving scenes of sadness at the parting of the ways.
In front of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, OCA First Vice President Timothy Fok had the honour of closing the games, while Gao Zhidan, President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said that Harbin 2025 had “rekindled the national passion” for winter sports.
Mr. Fok then took part in the OCA flag handover ceremony from Harbin 2025 to Neom 2029, receiving the flag from Mr. Wang Hesheng, Mayor of Harbin, and presenting it to His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Kingdom’s Sports Minister.
The spectators and athletes sitting in the stands were then given a taste of what to expect in four years’ time, when West Asia will host the Asian Winter Games for the first time. Performers played drums to an hypnotic Arabic beat and sped around the stage on roller skates as a giant golden falcon swooped around the big screen backdrop.
“See you in Saudi Arabia! Neom 2029 Asian Winter Games”, read the final message, to great cheers from the crowd.
The closing ceremony, with the theme “Spring Warms Harbin, Love Inspires Asia”, began with two performances entitled “United in Ice and Snow” and “Until We Meet Again” – the latter really tugging at the heart strings due to the friendships made and the mutual respect gained in Harbin.
After the flame, burning high in the lilac petal cauldron at Harbin Ice and Snow Park since the opening ceremony on February 7, was extinguished, all the performers in their bright costumes returned to the stage to sing and dance together – one last celebration for a memorable Harbin AWG.
