The Tokyo 2020 Games were declared closed on Sunday by IOC
chief Thomas Bach, who said it had been the “most challenging Olympic journey”
after a year’s pandemic delay and threats of cancellation.
Bach called the Tokyo Games “unprecedented” as he addressed
the 68,000-seat Olympic Stadium, which was empty of spectators as Japan battles
a record coronavirus outbreak.
“In these difficult times we are all living through, you
give the world the most precious of gifts: hope,” the International Olympic
Committee president told athletes at the ceremony.
“And now I have to mark the end of this most challenging
Olympic journey to Tokyo: I declare the Games of the 32nd Olympiad closed,”
Bach said.
It marked a low-key end to an extraordinary Olympics that
have mostly played out in empty venues with only athletes, team officials and
media present.
Athletes have lived in strict biosecure conditions with
social distancing at the Olympic Village and instructions to wear masks unless
eating, sleeping, training or competing.
As the Olympic flag was passed to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo
for the 2024 Games, live footage showed cheering crowds in the French capital —
in stark contrast to Tokyo.
Bach has described how the IOC considered cancelling the
Olympics and claiming the costs on its insurance policy but said officials
ploughed ahead with holding the Games “for the athletes”.
– ‘Our athletes moved people’ –
On Sunday, the climax of the biggest sports event since the
pandemic, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge won the men’s marathon and the USA edged China
at the top of the medals table.
The United States scored victories in volleyball, track
cycling and basketball to top the tally with 39 gold medals, just one ahead of
China.
The Olympics were plagued by low Japanese support as they
went ahead with Tokyo and other regions under a state of emergency and with
infections multiplying to new highs.
But Japan’s record haul of 27 golds to finish third on the
table has won hearts. Britain were fourth with 22 and the Russian Olympic
Committee, the team for Russian athletes after their country was banned for
systematic doping, were fifth with 20.
“We believe our athletes’ earnest spirit and all-out
performance moved people,” said Tsuyoshi Fukui, chef de mission for the
Japanese team.
A succession of big names have failed to perform in Japan,
where new sports skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing and karate brought
young new stars to the fore.
But marathon world record holder Kipchoge showed his class
on Sunday, kicking in the closing stages and clocking 2hr 08min 38sec to retain
the title he won in 2016.
“I know there were a lot of people against holding this
Olympics due to the coronavirus,” said a flag-waving, 47-year-old fan on the
marathon route who gave his name as Tsujita.
“But I am glad it took place. This was a once-in-a-lifetime
experience for everyone.”
The marathon, moved north to Sapporo to avoid Tokyo’s summer
heat, was one of the few events to allow spectators.
– Trans athletes, ‘twisties’ –
Fears of a major outbreak among the mostly vaccinated
Olympic athletes and officials proved unfounded and 430 cases were picked up
during the Games, including 32 in the Olympic Village.
However, the virus has lurked as an ever-present threat.
Victory celebrations were muted, with lonely laps of honour. But the athletes’
emotions were on full view.
Superstar gymnast Simone Biles provided the most
jaw-dropping moment when the American abruptly pulled out of competition over a
bout of the “twisties”, a disorientating mental block.
Biles, widely acknowledged as the greatest gymnast in
history, recovered sufficiently to claim a redemptive bronze medal in her final
event, the beam.
Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand became the first
openly transgender woman to compete at the Games and Canada’s Quinn became the
first openly transgender Olympic medallist, with gold in the women’s football.
In other highlights, US swimmer Caeleb Dressel assumed the
mantle of Michael Phelps with five gold medals and Jamaica’s Elaine
Thompson-Herah achieved a sprint double on the track.
Among the final events on Sunday, Jason Kenny claimed the
men’s keirin to become the first Briton to win seven Olympic titles.
The USA started the day two golds behind China but the
women’s basketball and volleyball titles and track cyclist Jennifer Valente’s
omnium victory put them top of the table.
Tokyo will host the Paralympics from August 24. The Olympic
circus will reconvene in just six months when Beijing, faced with boycott
threats and a renewed coronavirus emergency, holds the Winter Games in
February.
AFP
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