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TOKYO: The final act of the delayed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics came on Sunday, almost eight years to the day after the Japanese capital was awarded the Games.
The Paralympics ended a 13-day run in a colorful, circus-like ceremony at the National Stadium overseen by Crown Prince Akishino, the brother of Emperor Naruhito. The Olympics closed almost a month ago.
These were unprecedented Olympics and Paralympics, postponed for a year and marked by footnotes and asterisks. No fans were allowed during the Olympics, except for a few thousand at outlying venues away from Tokyo. A few thousand school children were allowed into some Paralympic venues.
“There were many times when we thought these games could not happen,” Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, said on Sunday. “There were many sleepless nights.”
The closing ceremony was entitled Harmonious Cacophony and involved both able-bodied actors and others with disabilities. The theme was described by organisers as a world inspired by the Paralympics, one where differences shine.
Like the Olympics, the Paralympics went ahead as Tokyo was under a state of emergency due to the pandemic. Like the Olympics, testing athletes frequently and isolating them in a bubble kept the virus largely at bay, though cases surged among a Japanese population that is now almost 50% fully vaccinated.
“I believe that we have reached the end of games without any major problems,” said Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the Tokyo organising committee.
But there was fallout, however. Lots of it.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on Friday, two days before the closing, that he would not continue in office. Suga hoped to get a re-election bump from the Olympics. He got the opposite as his approval rating plummeted after a slow vaccine rollout in Japan, and a contentious decision to stage the Games during the pandemic.
Suga succeeded Shinzo Abe, who resigned a year ago for health reasons. It was Abe who celebrated in the front row of a Buenos Aires hotel ballroom on September 7, 2013, when then-IOC President Jacques Rogge announced Tokyo as the 2020 host ahead of Istanbul and Madrid.
In a sad coincidence, Rogge died a week ago at 79 after being in poor health.
The Paralympics may leave a more tangible legacy in Japan than the Olympics, raising public awareness about people with disabilities and the provision of accessible public space.
It was a Games like no other, postponed a year because of the pandemic and dogged by difficulties and low public support in the build-up.
But the action did not disappoint when it got underway, with a record 86 teams winning medals and 62 claiming at least one gold.
Parsons said the Games had “opened the door”, and it was “time for us all to play our part to break down the barriers”.
“During our carnival of sport, we have celebrated difference, exhibited the best of humanity and shown unity in diversity,” he said.
The closing ceremony, with fans locked out over virus fears but with roughly 2,000 athletes and officials in attendance, featured a riot of neon-clad breakdancers, unicycling butterflies and strutting stilt-walkers, using materials recycled from the Olympic opening ceremony for its vivid props.
Among the athletes carrying their nations’ flags were Afghanistan’s Hossain Rasouli and Zakia Khudadadi, who arrived in Tokyo with the Games already in progress after being evacuated from Taliban-controlled Kabul.
The pair, wearing red and green team tracksuits, handed the flag over to a volunteer before joining other athletes in helping to decorate a replica of Tokyo’s Skytree tower.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike handed the Paralympic flag over to Parsons, who passed it on to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, representing the 2024 hosts.
Parsons then announced the end of the Games, bringing the curtain down after 539 gold medals across 22 sports.
China finished on top of the medal table with 207, including 96 golds, followed by Britain, the United States and the Russian team.
The Games featured 163 delegations — one fewer than the London 2012 record, despite several teams withdrawing because of pandemic difficulties.
The final day’s action began with the early morning marathon events, with Swiss wheelchair master Marcel Hug defending his T54 crown.
Hug opened up an early gap on the field, and moved away from silver medallist Zhang Yong over the last two uphill kilometres.
In the women’s T54 marathon, Australian Madison de Rozario clung on to finish ahead of Swiss great Manuela Schaer, winning the gold by just one second.