France, with 12 medals (including 7 gold) finished in fourth place in the ranking, thus equaling its best historical performance (1994, 2006, 2018).

The young skier Arthur Bauchet, standard bearer at the closing ceremony, ended his Games in style by winning the slalom (standing category), his fourth medal of the Games, the third in gold.

Benjamin Daviet also won a 4th medal, silver with Anthony Chalençon, in the cross-country ski relay, after winning the ski sprint and the individual biathlon, then took second place in the middle distance background.

As at the opening, it was the Olympic stadium in the Chinese capital, the emblematic "Bird's Nest", which hosted a ceremony concocted by the famous director Zhang Yimou, and attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping. .

The Paralympic flag has been lowered and passed to the organizers of the next winter edition of the Games which will take place in 2026 in Milan and in the ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, in the Dolomites.

Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), called the participating athletes a "beacon of hope" and "champions of peace", but did not specifically mention the situation in Ukraine.

During the opening ceremony, his anti-war speech, referring to the Russian invasion, was partially censored during its broadcast by Chinese state television CCTV.

Paralympics-2022: medals by delegation AFP

Again, part of his speech was not translated into Chinese for local audiences.

The expressions "champions for peace" and "hopes for peace" have thus been omitted.

"Resilience"

Ukraine was invited to the organizers' menu just before the start of the Games, with a difficult question around the exclusion, or not, of athletes from Russia and Belarus - a country which is cooperating in the Russian invasion.

The flag bearers, including that of Ukraine Vitalii Lukianenko, parade during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics, March 13, 2022 WANG Zhao AFP

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had called for them to be banned from sports competitions until further notice.

After allowing the athletes concerned to compete under a "neutral" banner, the IPC reversed its decision the following day, citing opposition from numerous national Paralympic committees, threats of boycotts and tensions in the athletes' village.

All this turmoil did not disturb the sports performance of Ukrainians.

Arrived in extremis in Beijing after a daunting journey by bus across Europe, they went after themselves, winning a total of 29 medals (including 11 gold), in biathlon and cross-country skiing.

During the Games, a Ukrainian sportswoman learned that her father, a soldier, had been taken prisoner by the Russians.

Another won a gold medal days after discovering her home in Kharkiv had been bombed.

"To compete here at such a high level, knowing that your family and your country are under attack, is just unbelievable," Andrew Parsons said on Saturday.

"It's one of the most incredible displays of resilience I've seen in my life. In and out of sport."

President of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons, at the closing of the Beijing Games, March 13, 2022 WANG Zhao AFP

Lesson learned from these Games: China, the host country, has asserted itself as a new power in para-winter sports.

With 61 medals in total (including 18 gold), she is first in the standings ahead of Ukraine and Canada.

Engaged in the Winter Paralympics from Salt Lake City (2002), the Asian giant had only won his first medal in Pyeongchang (2018) with curling gold.

His success in Beijing amazes even his own athletes.

Few cases of Covid

"We weren't really aware of our level (...) because we haven't taken part in many competitions abroad lately", Covid obliges, Liu Sitong told AFP, winner of four medals in alpine skiing.

Competitions were still taking place on Sunday.

Chinese Liu Sitong, quadruple medalist at the Beijing Paralympic Games in Yanqing, March 12, 2022 WANG Zhao AFP

The Americans beat the Canadians 5-0 in the sledge hockey final.

"I have a heavy heart at the moment. I think it will take some time to get over it. You should already be proud to have arrived here," said Canadian player Tyler McGregor.

In alpine skiing, Norwegian prodigy Jesper Pedersen, 22, won his fourth Paralympic gold medal in the slalom (sitting category).

He had already won silver in the downhill.

Another satisfaction: very few positive cases of coronavirus have been identified in the health bubble, already in place for the Olympic Games and which isolated athletes, officials and staff from the rest of the Chinese population.

© 2022 AFP