Editing 1960 Winter Olympics (section)

===Closing ceremonies===
The Games were brought to a close on afternoon of February 28 in Blyth Memorial Arena in front of 20,000 people. Flags of the participating nations were followed by the athletes who marched as a group with no national distinctions, a tradition carried over from the [[1956 Summer Olympics]]. The flag bearers made a semi-circle around the rostrum and the national anthems of Greece (even though the nation did not send a delegation to Squaw Valley), the United States, and Austria were played as their respective flags were raised. The [[Olympic Charter]] determinates that the [[Flag of Greece|Greek flag]] honors Greece as the originators of the Olympic Games, and it was displayed during the ceremony even despite Greece's absence, which was the only time in Olympic history that the country failed to send a team. The United States flag represented the host nation and the Austrian flag was raised because [[Innsbruck]], Austria was to be the host of the next games. IOC president Avery Brundage declared the Games closed, at which point the Olympic flame was extinguished. The Games concluded with the release of several thousand balloons.{{sfn|Squaw Valley Organizing Committee|1960|pp=59–60}}