Finland win Olympic gold in men's ice hockey, Beijing 2022 officially ends

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Finland won their first ice hockey Olympic gold after beating the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 2-1 in a Sunday Beijing 2022 game.

Mikhail Grigorenko scored for the ROC in the first period at the National Indoor Stadium.

The Finnish men's national team bounced back from the 1-0 deficit with two goals of their own to be crowned the 2022 champions.

Defender Ville Pokka scored the equalizer for Finland in the second period and forward Hannes Bjorninen put the ball into the ROC net in the early minutes of the third period, which was the winning goal for Team Finland.

Finland were the silver medalists at Calgary 1988 in Canada and Turin 2006 in Italy, which was their best Winter Games before Beijing 2022.

The ROC, who were the 2018 champions in PyeongChang, South Korea, took home an Olympic silver.

Russian athletes competed without their flag and anthem due to past doping violations.

- Great Britain victorious in women's curling

Great Britain became the 2022 Olympic gold medalists in women's curling.

Eve Muirhead's curlers hammered Japan 10-3 to be the Olympic champions.

Runners-up Japan were awarded the silver medal.

It was Great Britain's only gold medal at Beijing 2022.

- Norway dominate medal count

After at least two weeks on ice and snow, Norway bagged 37 Olympic medals, including 16 gold, ending the campaign in China with the most gold medals.

The Scandinavian country also claimed eight silver and 13 bronze at Beijing 2022.

Second-place Germany won 27 medals in total. German athletes claimed 12 gold medals to follow Norway.

The 2022 hosts China came third on the medal table, after winning nine gold.

The Asian country had four silver and two bronze medals.

Ranked ninth in the medal standings, the ROC earned the most silver medals, 12, in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The ROC won 32 medals, including six gold.

- 2022 Winter Olympics ends with ceremony

The Winter Games in Beijing officially ended on Sunday with a closing ceremony.

The Olympic flame at the Beijing National Stadium was extinguished to signal the end of the games in China. In addition, the ceremony saw fireworks.

IOC President Thomas Bach thanked the Chinese people for hosting the 2022 Games.

"And now, I have to mark the end of this unforgettable Olympic experience. I declare the 24th Olympic Winter Games, Beijing 2022, closed," Bach said in his speech.

The next Winter Games will be Milano Cortina 2026. Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo will be the hosts.

Italy last hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.