2/26/2006: And then it went out
The Olympic flame was extinguished about ten minutes past 10pm Torino time. The city's webcams only refresh every few minutes so it was that much more dramatic to see it burning bright one minute like it has for the past two weeks, and dark the next.
It's always sad to see the flame go out, but the stadium burst into light again a few minutes later and the 20-story tall tower that held the flame was lit up again for a moment, and decorated with sparkle from the fireworks.
Inside the stadium were clowns, acrobats, brides, ballerinas, human tarot cards, Andrea Bocelli and Avril Levigne, and the usual pomp & circumstance was accompanied by masks on the spectators and clown noses on the athletes, all in keeping with Italy's Carnevale which takes place this weekend. The crowd roared when the final gold medal was awarded to Italy's own Giorgio di Centa for the 50k cross country race, the "Snow Marathon". The view from afar shows that the closing ceremonies had their share of dazzle, light and color, even after the flame went out. It should be a good show when it airs tonight.
By all accounts Torino was an excellent host for the 20th Winter Olympics and most everything went smoothly. There was this brief interruption during the speeches at the closing ceremonies, when a protestor jumped onstage and grabbed the mic from the head of Torino's organizing committee. NBC has plenty of time to edit him out before air-time tonight, but they might leave him in for dramatic effect since he was hustled away before he got a chance to voice his gripe - whatever it was - to the world.
Even though I watched the games from the other side of the world, I felt like I was there for much of it, and I felt welcome. Thanks to all the athletes, committees and crews, and grazie per ospitarli, Torino!
