Legendary Birmingham rocker Ozzy Osbourne made a shock look to convey the curtain down on a massively profitable Commonwealth Games in fabulous vogue.
Osbourne and his band Black Sabbath acquired a raptrous ovation from the 30,000 capability crowd on the Alexander Stadium as they supplied a becoming climax to a star-studded closing ceremony.
The 73-year-old ‘Prince of Darkness’ has not carried out for a number of years resulting from in poor health well being.
“I love you, Birmingham – it’s good to be back!” he shouted as he rose by means of the stage to spherical off the present with traditional hit Paranoid.
The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, formally declared the Games closed after the flag handover to Victoria, the Australian state that may host the 2026 version.
“Thanks to the manner, style and enthusiasm with which you have competed, officiated, supported organized and volunteered, you have once again brought the spirit and values ​​of the Commonwealth Games to life,” he mentioned.
“You have inspired us and hopefully future generations – you have also demonstrated what unites us. Thank you Birmingham and the West Midlands.”
Earlier, different famed Brummie acts together with Dexys Midnight Runners, Apache Indian, Musical Youth, UB40 and Panjabi MC entertained the group with traditional hits amid a parade that includes a whole lot of athletes who competed through the 11-day Games.
Team England, who collected a report 176 medals through the Games, had been the final to enter the stadium to a euphoric reception from the house supporters.
More than 1.3 million tickets had been bought through the Games throughout 24 sports activities – with organizers estimating that greater than 500,000 of these had been snapped up by West Midlands residents who took the occasion to their hearts.
That prolonged not solely to those that attended the sports activities themselves but additionally a whole lot of 1000’s extra who packed pageant websites at occasion venues and different metropolis landmarks to benefit from the motion on large screens, meet the Perry the Bull mascot and take in the environment.
More than 4,500 athletes from 72 nations and territories competed in 280 medal occasions throughout 11 days, yielding a number of incredible feats, stirring tales and memorable moments.
With the solar shining just about all through the week and a half within the West Midlands, the climate performed its half too and that continued with a closing ceremony bathed in heat night temperatures.
One of the ceremony’s loudest ovations was reserved for Games organizing committee chair John Crabtree’s heartfelt speech, thanking the 14,000 volunteers for his or her efforts and the crowds for his or her assist.
He additionally praised the seamless means incapacity sports activities had been built-in into Birmingham 2022, which featured the most important Para-sports program in Commonwealth Games historical past.
“I think Birmingham should be so, so proud, they have put on an incredible Games,” five-time Paralympic gold medalist Ellie Simmonds, from close by Walsall, instructed BBC Sport.
“Sport has the power to change the world and you can see it in Birmingham.”
Closing ceremony to recollect
The closing ceremony started with an enormous chimney hovering up from the stage, signifying Birmingham’s industrial historical past and post-war rebuild, earlier than cult Eighties band Dexys Midnight Runners acquired the group rocking with a rendition of their iconic hit Come On Eileen.
Birmingham’s multi-cultural heritage, starting with the arrival of Caribbean and Asian communities into the town within the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties, was celebrated by means of performances of Apache Indian’s Boom Shack-A-Lak and Musical Youth’s Pass The Dutchie.
That theme of the Second City’s numerous communities continued as reggae legends UB40’s Red, Red Wine was adopted by mannequin Neelam Gill making an look throughout Panjabi MC’s Bhangra hit Mundian To Bach Ke.
Musicians from the broader West Midlands together with Goldie, Beverley Knight – the soul singer carrying a Wolverhampton Wanderers package – and Jorja Smith additionally carried out throughout a glittering ceremony.
Of course, Birmingham wouldn’t be Birmingham with out a nod to the ever-popular Peaky Blinders TV drama through a dance routine, which preceded a strong phase that includes a number of the space’s younger spoken phrase and musical skills foreshadowing the town’s – hopefully shiny – future.
The handover to Victoria for the 2026 Games, the place the host nation guarantees to ship the “first true multi-city Commonwealth Games” throughout a number of cities, was adopted by Australian songs and choreography, earlier than Osbourne produced the shock of the evening along with his sudden finale .
Fitting flagbearers as Games stars take middle stage
A fortnight in the past, Jake Jarman was a just about unknown younger gymnast making ready for his first main senior championship – 4 gold medals later, he is nearly a family title on the age of 20.
Jarman’s nomination as England’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony mirrored not solely his leap from obscurity to stardom, but additionally the host nation’s unparalleled gymnastics success on the Games.
The 11 gold medals England’s gymnasts gained was unsurpassed by some other sport, with triumphs for hometown favorites Joe Fraser and Alice Kinsella including to the Arena Birmingham crowd’s fervour.
From Alex Yee’s scene-setting triathlon gold on the Games’ opening morning, by means of emotional comebacks from bicycle owner Laura Kenny and swimmer Adam Peaty, there have been particular person tales aplenty.
But the group occasions supplied simply as a lot drama, not least England males’s thrilling extra time 3×3 basketball remaining triumph in opposition to Canada and the ladies’s hockey remaining victory over Australia.
In a Games that, for the primary time, featured extra medals for girls than males, double medalist Eilish McColgan was chosen as Scotland’s flagbearer after the ladies’s 10,000m champion and Laura Muir supplied the golden highlights of their nation’s athletics efforts.
And success within the boxing ring – at all times a powerful swimsuit for the house nations – was mirrored by Rosie Eccles and Dylan Eagleson carrying the Wales and Northern Ireland flags respectively.
A Games to treasure for host nation
Away from the motion, the Games captured the creativeness of a area and a nation – however they had been simply as profitable from a sporting perspective for the host nation.
England loved their finest ever Commonwealth Games medal tally of 176, beating the haul gained at Glasgow 2014 by two, though the 57 golds gained had been one shy of the 58 claimed eight years in the past.
Even that terrific whole was not sufficient for England to repeat their 2014 feat of topping the medals desk as Australia took that honor by advantage of 10 extra golds and two extra medals general.
It was a Games to recollect for the opposite house nations too, with Northern Ireland recording their largest Commonwealth medal return and Scotland registering their second highest.
Scotland completed sixth within the medal desk with their 51 medals and 13 golds, second solely to their house Games tallies of 53 and 19 respectively at Glasgow 2014.
Northern Ireland’s 18 medals and 7 golds had been each new data, beating marks set final century, whereas Wales loved their fourth-best Commonwealth Games with 28 medals.
There was pleasure too for Guernsey because the Channel Island claimed its first Commonwealth medals in 28 years with Lucy Beere’s garden bowls silver and Alastair Chalmers’ males’s 400m hurdles bronze.
With inputs from BBC
