The Olympic Game Now Declared Over

lolaig
Canada
August 9, 2021

The Tokyo 2020 Games; 17 days of competition now over

By Dami Igbinyemi

After 16 days of competition, the Olympic flame was extinguished, and IOC President Thomas Bach declared the Games closed. The Tokyo Olympics Games came to an end yesterday with a small closing ceremony similar to the opening ceremony. The two-hour ceremony set on a smaller scale than previous years due to the pandemic saluted the athletes, organizers and volunteers who made the Games a success. “In these difficult times, you gave to the world the most precious of gifts: hope,” Bach said, addressing the athletes. “For the first time since the pandemic began, the entire world came together.”

The theme for the closing ceremony was “Worlds We Share” to reflect how individuals all live in their separate worlds that we then chose to share with others. Just like how athletes from around the world came together to share the Olympic Games despite the city of Tokyo being under a state of emergency and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Games took place without a major outbreak but did have a few dozen positive cases from personnel and athletes.

The closing ceremony opened with a video montage filled with highlights from the 17 days of competition and fireworks show as a symbol of gratitude. Damian Warner was named Canada’s flag-bearer for the closing ceremony after winning Canada’s first Olympic decathlon at the Games. During the ceremony, athletes were seen wearing masks and distancing but were also given a chance to mingle unlike during the games.

Male soprano Tomotaka Okamoto sang the Olympic anthem as the flag was taken down and handed to the mayor of Paris for the next Summer Games in three years. As per tradition, the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, handed the flag to IOC president Bach, who then handed it to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. The upcoming host city went on to put on a small show to show a glimpse of the upcoming Games for the first time ever at a closing ceremony. The ceremony closed with the word “arigato” meaning “thank you” on a screen in the same font that was displayed at the end of the 1964 Tokyo Games “sayonara” meaning “goodbye”.

“Over the course of the Games, our athletes made us proud and showed us why Canadians are some of the best athletes in the world. While seven gold medals, six silver medals, and 11 bronze medals are impressive, all of our athletes gave their best and should take pride in their performances,” Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau said in a statement.

Team Canada Gold Medals: