2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Seoul. First, the Greek flag was raised while its anthem played. The Olympic flag was then lowered and passed, by the mayor of Pyeongchang County, Shim Jae-kook, to IOC President, Thomas Bach, who then handed it over to the mayor of Beijing, Chen Jining. This was then followed by the raising of the flag of China, and the playing of its anthem. The flag will be raised again in Tokyo, Japan, for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics on 24 July 2020. Beijing, the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, presented a special performance "See
Bids for the 2022 Winter Olympics Palace with drinks paid for by the royal family. Several commentators pointed out that such demands were unheard of in a western democracy; "Slate" described the IOC as a "notoriously ridiculous organization run by grifters and hereditary aristocrats." On 7 November 2013, the Polish Olympic Committee announced they submitted a bid to the IOC for the 2022 Winter Olympics, together with Zakopane, Poland, and Jasná, a village in central Slovakia, near the Polish border. If the bid had been successful, it would have been the first time either Poland or Slovakia hosted the Olympics. Zakopane previously bid to host the