London beckons while Beijing bids farewell to Olympics
24 Aug 2008, 2152 Hrs

The curtains dropped today at the magnificent Beijing Olympics Games tonight shimmering with all its splendour

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Beijing, Aug 24 (ANI): The curtains dropped today at the magnificent Beijing Olympics Games tonight shimmering with all its splendour.

The 16-day Olympics splendour got a befitting signing off and the Olympic flag was handed over to the London Mayor Boris Johnson by his Beijing counterpart Guo Jinlong.

The onus of maintaining the Beijing standards was passed on to the British capital to be matched in 2012.

From organisational point of view, Beijing simply dished out a flawless Olympics to silence its malevolent critics.

China's might also found an expression in the medal tally with the hosts leading the chart, miles ahead of its American and Russian counterparts in terms of gold medals. ndia too had reasons to cherish the event as their Beijing campaign yielded an unprecedented three individual medals.

At the end of 16 days of intense, no-holds-barred rivalry among the best in the business for global bragging rights in 302 events, Beijing anointed two sports icons in American bionic aqua man Michael Phelps and Jamaican Flying Machine Usain Bolt.

Phelps ruled the pool and sunk every existing record in swimming history books while the brash, cocky Bolt left the world behind to emerge as the fastest man on earth.

On August 8 at the opening ceremony a promise was made, and tonight the closing ceremony was a fulfillment of the same promise.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge also made an appearance.

During the march of the 204 participating nations with the flag of their respective countries, the Indian tri-colour fluttered in Vijender's able hands.

The Mayors of Beijing and London entered the stage for the flag handover ceremony, which was followed by an eight-minute cultural performance heralding the start of the countdown to the London Games.

Finally, the flame was extinguished but fireworks painted numerous pictures on Beijing's night sky and six singers passionately lent their voice for "Beijing, Beijing, I love Beijing". (ANI)