The closing ceremony (8:00 p.m. local, 1:00 p.m. French) will lower the curtain on this very special fortnight under the regime of a very strict health bubble, which greatly ruined the Olympic party.

Just as regrettable but more common in Olympic history, doping has also come to Beijing, with a name: Kamila Valieva.

At 15, the Russian skater finds herself at the center of a resounding doping affair which will continue well beyond the Chinese meeting.

Arriving as the big favorite in the individual event, thanks in particular to her quadruple jumps, Valieva began by winning the team event ahead of the Americans and Japan on 7 February.

Doom!

The next day, she was notified of a positive doping control for a test carried out on December 25.

With appeals and procedures, Valieva, the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency are trying to unravel the imbroglio.

Russian Kamila Valieva during the figure skating free program on February 17, 2022 at the Beijing Olympics Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV AFP / Archives

On the eve of the individual event, she was finally authorized to participate.

But the IOC warns that it will consider the results as provisional and will not award medals until the case is resolved - which could take months -.

Finally, after dominating the short program, she literally cracked in the freestyle and finished... at the foot of the podium, worn out by the pressure.

7 medals for biathlon

Quickly returned home, the teenager must now recover and wait, just like the Americans, furious at not having received their medal, and the Japanese.

Medals, some have drunk it.

Quentin Fillon Maillet has accumulated five, a feat that no Frenchman had ever achieved in the same Winter Olympics.

The Jurassian leaves these Olympics with two titles (individual and pursuit) and three silver medals (mixed relay and men, sprint), more than any other athlete at these Olympics, tied with his great Norwegian rival Johannes Boe, Norwegian biathlete Marte Olsbu Roeiseland and Russian cross-country skier Alexandre Bolshunov.

French biathlon torchbearers before receiving their silver medal on February 16 at the Beijing Olympics Tobias SCHWARZ AFP / Archives

"QFM" will therefore have been the main provider of French medals.

With its five podiums, plus the title of Justine Braisaz-Bouchet in mass-start and the silver of Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet in individual, the biathlon is even worth half of the 14 medals of the French camp.

After the failure in the quarter-finals of the alpine skiers during the team event on Sunday, the French count should stop at one unit of the record for the 2018 Olympics, unless Delphine Claudel, the last tricolor in in the 30 km cross-country ski race.

The Blues can however console themselves with so many gold medals since to those of Fillon Maillet and Braisaz-Bouchet, are added Clément Noël, in slalom, and the duo Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, in ice dancing.

Unfortunately these exploits could not be as festive as they deserved to be.

Less than 100,000 spectators

The public invited by officials was present - unlike last summer in Tokyo - but with less than 100,000 spectators announced by the organizers - against 1 million four years ago in Pyeongchang - spread over 13 sites and 109 events, these Olympics were gloomy and often silent.

The health bubble has indeed spoiled a large part of the pleasure, with the wearing of the compulsory mask, the daily tests and above all the travel restrictions, the impossibility for the athletes to stay a few days once their tests are over to go and encourage their compatriots. , to escape this bubble to meet the local population...

An employee in overalls performs a Covid test before the start of the Beijing Olympics on January 27, 2022 Fabrice COFFRINI AFP / Archives

But in the end, the organizers' zero Covid policy worked.

Certainly, some athletes, affected by the Covid-19, had to give up their Olympic dream.

But in view of the more than 60,000 daily tests, there was no cluster, nor carnage since the Olympic population had no more than 3 positive cases over the last 10 days.

And even those placed in solitary confinement did not seem to have suffered from it, like the Norwegian Johannes Boe, four-time Olympic champion in biathlon.

The fortnight had also started with controversies over human rights or the lack of natural snow, made with snow cannons.

Milan/Cortina in 2026

The debate on human rights has come neither from athletes nor from organizations opposed to the holding of these Olympics in China, accused of human rights violations in the Xinjiang region against the Uyghur minority, a Muslim minority. .

The Biden administration accuses Beijing of having locked up Uyghurs and other minorities there in camps and speaks of a "genocide".

To the few questions asked on this subject, the spokesperson for the Organizing Committee, Yan Jiarong, spoke of "lies" before being called to order by the IOC which does not want to mix sport and politics and the organizers pulled Uyghur cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang out of their hats to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony on February 4.

The last bearers of the Olympic flame for the Beijing Olympics, Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Zhao Jiawen, during the opening ceremony on February 4, 2022 Anthony WALLACE POOL/AFP/Archives

Heaven also extinguished the snow controversy as after a week spent lamenting the dry, arid and white-free landscapes of the mountain venues of Zhangjiakou and Yanqing, the Holy Snow finally fell in the middle of the Olympics, whitening the backs -plans.

And now it's time for the next Olympics with a return to Europe, after Rio, Pyeongchang, Tokyo and Beijing.

In four years, the next winter edition will be in Italy with a unique Milan/Cortina duo, who recover the Olympic flag during the closing evening from the hands of IOC President Thomas Bach.

And then Paris!

The next Olympic meeting in 2024 will take place in the French capital, where the organizers promise festive summer Olympics.

The Olympic world needs it.

© 2022 AFP