Olympic Games – Tokyo extinguishes the Olympic flame, ending the epidemic games

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo extinguished the Olympic torch in a ceremony on Sunday that echoed the restraint of a Games without spectators defined and transformed by the global pandemic, dazzling sports and deep personal turmoil.

Moments after the flame was extinguished at the Olympic Stadium, a barrage of multicolored fireworks lit up the night sky around the Olympic Stadium as the athletes were already heading to the exits.

They are given a surreal glimpse into daily life in Tokyo when the closing ceremony is briefly transformed into a park with lawn, motorcyclists and motorcyclists. Organizers said the spectacle was intended so they could “experience Tokyo,” a poignant reference to the fact that many spent their time at the games locked in rooms or competing in venues.

It was a duly bizarre shutdown of games upended by the pandemic and then transformed by the drama of politics, sports and personal turmoil. The Tokyo Olympics were originally intended to show Japan’s recovery from the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in 2011.

It was also in marked contrast to the more festive park scene held in Paris, where several thousand tricolor flag-waving sports fans gathered in the fan zone across the river from the Eiffel Tower as the French capital geared up to grab the Olympic bat. From Tokyo 2024 Games.

After being postponed for a year, organizers said the games will serve as a symbol of the world’s victory over the pandemic. The games were held without spectators and with the re-emergence of the COVID-19 variants, the games achieved no victory and the sudden financial gains that Japan sought first.

Instead, the host country is saddled with a $15 billion bill, twice what it initially expected, and no tourism boom to make up for it.

The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) thanked the Japanese people and described the Olympics as a symbol of hope during the pandemic.

“No one has ever organized a postponed Games before,” he said.

Pop music

In Paris, pop music took off when Tokyo winners Teddy Renner and Clarice Agpegno took to the stage. Plans to raise a giant Olympic flag from the Eiffel Tower were abandoned due to strong winds.

France promised to host the 2024 Summer Olympics “for the people” after the pandemic-hit Tokyo event. In a sign that those days are far from near, public entry into the fan zone was only allowed upon presentation of a vaccine certificate or a negative COVID-19 test.

Public outrage over the pandemic response and the slow pace in rolling out a vaccine have severely damaged Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s standing. Public opinion polls showed that most Japanese were against holding the Games during the pandemic.

In a sign of diversity, a victory gala was held for the first time for the women’s and men’s marathons. The 68,000-capacity stadium was twice filled by the Kenyan anthem, for gold medalists Beris Jepchercher and Eliud Kipchoge.

However, the organizers here appear to have prevented the Tokyo Games from turning into a super-spreading event for COVID-19, notable given that around 50,000 people gathered amid the pandemic.

Referring to the measures, the winners accepted their prizes from trays, and placed medals around their necks, even though social distancing protocols that forbid hugs, for example, were largely ignored throughout the games.

While the bubble here—the collection of venues and hotels that Olympic visitors were trapped in—seemed to hold, some things have collapsed elsewhere. Because of the Delta type of virus, daily infections rose to more than 5,000 for the first time in Tokyo, threatening to flood its hospitals.

Japan’s record-breaking medal record here also helped take some of the sting out for the organizers. The US topped the standings here with 39 gold medals, one time ahead of rival China with 38 and Japan with 27.

Japan will hand over the Olympic baton to the next host city, Paris, at the ceremony.

The Cold War and the “Sprains”

After a year’s delay, often against the backdrop of cavernous and semi-empty venues, the games themselves delivered plenty of high drama.

This culminated in the defection of Belarusian runner Kristina Tsimanskaya who, in a Cold War-like moment here, refused to board a plane home after being taken to the airport against her will.

She has since sought refugee status in Poland.

Famous American gymnast Simone Biles shocked the world when she withdrew from five of her six events, including abrupt abandonment of the women’s team final after attempting to jump only once, citing concerns about her mental and physical health.

The 24-year-old has spoken candidly about the struggle to deal with the weight of expectations placed on her and making the world realize “twitches,” a mental obstacle that prevents gymnasts from performing their gravity-defying skills.

Biles eventually returned to win bronze on the balance beam in the women’s gymnastics program’s final event, a triumphal moment that crystallized her transformation from Olympic champion to mental health advocate here.

In athletics, Italy delivered a different kind of shock with their amazing running. Their victories included a stunning gold medal in the men’s relay race here, taking their gold tally in athletics to five.

In swimming here, the United States was without 23 Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps for the first time since the Atlanta Games in 1996, and while the gold medal count dipped, they finished the meet at the top of the medal table with 30 in total. .

Additional reporting by David Dolan, Mari Saito and Chang Ran Kim. Additional reporting by Carlos Grumman, Billy Mallard, Anthony Slodkowski, Sakura Murakami and Nick Mulvaney; Additional reporting by Richard Love in Paris. Editing by Pritha Sarkar, Peter Rutherford, Himani Sarkar and Claire Fallon

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