Beijing signs off with another awesome display, next stop London 2012

Beijing packed another pyrotechnic punch at the Bird’s Nest tonight for the closing ceremony of the 29th Olympiad. Drawing on China’s rich tradition of acrobatics, filmmaker Zhang Yimou playfully drew on the theme of remembering to sign off China’s long fortnight under the most high-voltage spotlight.

China ended the Games with 51 gold medals, signaling the strongest domination of sport by a country since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The sport was intriguingly good at these Olympics, and barring any distressing news that may come by way of doping Beijing will be a marker for students of athletic excellence.

But for China, these Games have been as much about the staging of them as for the medal haul. China was keen to host them, and seven years ago made pledges to get them and asserted its ambitions for rapid development in preparing for them.

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