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The closing ceremony began with a video looking back at the two weeks of the Games. It acknowledged that there was “more tension than usual” due to the impact of covid, while featuring scenes that reflect “how we were able to bring these unprecedented Games to a peaceful close,” according to officials. “The main focus of the video is not records and scores but the valiant efforts of all the athletes.”
Organizers set up a grassy field in the middle of the stadium, in an effort to make athletes feel as if they are at a Tokyo park, organizers said. The move acknowledged that the Olympians could not spend time hanging out in the city, as they normally would have, due to covid restrictions. Performances, like jumping rope and yoga, re-created what it feels like to be in an imaginary park in the capital, a slice of life that organizers hope to convey to the athletes.
The Japanese flag was carried in at the top of the ceremony, with the six flag bearers consisting of four athletes, a person with a disability and a health-care professional — nods to the upcoming Paralympic Games and the efforts of medical workers in the pandemic.
A joyous parade of about 4,600 participants, the majority who were Olympians, unfolded after each of the 206 participating members’ flags were marched into the center of the stadium. Athletes milled about after entering, and they clapped, danced and took photos while a row of volunteers greeted them, waving and clapping along. A ska band and a DJ played music to create a lively mood.
62 flags were carried in by volunteers because delegates had to go home, according to the BBC. (Most athletes were required to leave within 48 hours of completing their competition because of the pandemic.) The athletes who attended Sunday night had to spit into vials every day to test negative for the coronavirus to train and compete in their events.
Health — both physical and mental — was at the forefront of the Tokyo Games. Athletes had trained an additional year because of the rescheduled Games. And several competitors, notably gymnast Simone Biles, spoke out about the mental health toll of the training regimen, pressures of the world stage and the pandemic.
This year, 88 national Olympic committees medaled — three more than in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and London in 2012. Three new countries received gold medals. Some others received their first of any kind. And the host nation of Japan won a record number of medals.
Despite the remarkable moments of athleticism and camaraderie on display over the past two weeks, the Games also were overshadowed by the rapid spread of coronavirus in and around Tokyo.
Tokyo logged a record number of coronavirus cases this week, burdening the hospital system amid a slow vaccine rollout, an increasingly apathetic public and the government’s unsuccessful efforts to restrict the spread of the delta variant. On Saturday, Tokyo reported 4,566 new coronavirus cases, after a record of 5,042 just two days prior. Japan’s positive daily cases exceeded 15,000 for the first time Thursday.
Olympic officials maintain that they have successfully prevented Games-related infections from spreading throughout the Japanese public, but some public health experts say the atmosphere around the Olympics have undermined public understanding of the severity of the virus.
The Tokyo Olympics largely was a made-for-TV affair, with no spectators in the stands at the vast majority of venues to minimize the spread of the virus. Fans joined virtually from around the world, sending selfie videos and clicking on a “virtual cheer” button on the Olympics video platform. At some venues, the staff played audio of prerecorded crowd sounds to manually generate an ambiance.
In a normal Games, athletes who completed their competitions would have spent time exploring the city and mingling with locals. But the “Pandemic Games” were far from normal.
Japanese public opinion toward the Olympics remains mixed, with polling from last week showing that opposition toward the Games began declining once the competitions began. (The host country’s haul of gold medals may have helped.) But a plurality of the public still opposes the Games, and discontent grew once the virus cases reached record levels in Tokyo.
On Sunday, the mixed public response was in plain view outside the stadium. An hour before the ceremony began, residents lined up on the street across from the empty stadium — the closest they can get to it due to barriers and police officers blocking off the venue — to listen to music seeping out and watch fireworks. Meanwhile, protesters nearby were heard yelling anti-Olympic chants.
The ceremony will conclude with the handoff to the 2024 Paris Games. In the French capital, organizers will hoist what they said is the world’s largest flag, with a surface area of over 58,000 square feet, using the Eiffel Tower as a flagpole. The fabric will be reused for a clothing collection that marks the Paris Games.
The flag sequence “offers a taste of what the Games will be in 2024: spectacular in the image of the competitions staged in the heart of Paris, audacious like the determination to host the Opening Ceremony in the city; engaging to share the emotions of the Games with as many people as possible; and sustainable, starting with this flag which will be recycled after the ceremony,” organizers said.
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