Beijing Winter Olympics End With Parade of National Flags and Burst of Fireworks

BEIJING—With a parade of nationwide flags and a remaining burst of fireworks in the stadium acknowledged as the Bird’s Nest, China on Sunday formally concluded a Beijing Winter Olympics that sought to unify the globe but ended up highlighting its divisions.

Athletes competed for medals when the threat of war loomed in some of their homelands. The breakout star was not a Usain Bolt-like determine whose athletic feats transcended borders, but relatively a U.S.-born Chinese skier, Eileen Gu, whose virtuosity on the slopes was accompanied by questions about allegiance and privilege.