And just like that, it’s over
Tokyo has officially said goodbye to the Summer Olympic Games with a closing ceremony on Sunday, and handed over the fire torch as well as the Olympic flag to Paris, which is a gesture for them to officially start their celebration and preparations for Paris Olympics 2024!
The 17 days of the most nerve-wracking, competitive games were finally held after a year delay and no spectators due to COVID-19, though that is enough to know how memorable and historic this Olympic was, it is even important to remember the awareness crucial actions such as athletes taking a stand for mental health, encouraged more people to open up and talk about their experience with the disease.
Despite everything and the obstacles the city had to face due to COVID-19, Tokyo was able to complete the ceremony successfully and elegantly.
Here’s what went down throughout the ceremony:
The athletes walked in together, not in any particular order
The winners of the marathon event were presented with their medals, another Olympic tradition, that was followed by traditional Japanese dances. An opera singer then performed during the International Olympic Committee anthem.
The ceremony included a ska band on stage with dancers, jugglers and soccer players walking around an elected stage in the centre of the stadium.
The Olympic Flame was extinguished!
At the closing ceremony, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo was present at the Tokyo Stadium and was the one to receive the Olympic flag after it was handed over to her, a traditional gesture to pass it on to the next city. This is a very special moment for Paris as they have not hosted the Olympics games for over 100 years, the last time being in 1924!
Paris was originally supposed to fly over a football pitch sized flag that was stamped with ‘Paris 2024’ around Eiffel Tower however, it was not allowed due to the unfortunate weather in France. That did not stop the joy of taking over the ceremony, as the French athletes who came back from Tokyo were surrounded near the Tower to welcome the handover of the Olympic flag to Paris
We can’t wait to watch the Summer Olympics 2024 and cheer on our UAE Olympians again. What an incredible journey it has been this year!
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication Team UAE, you did us proud!
Are you looking forward to Paris Olympics 2024?
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