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Amid the complicated COVID-19 pandemic, like the opening ceremony, the closing one had no audience, and the agenda was shortened compared to the original script, with a limited number of guests and around 4,500 athletes. Before the ceremony, many sports delegations returned home after finishing their competition.
With the theme "Worlds We Share" at the closing ceremony, the organisers wanted to express the Olympic spirit and the meaning of a common world to share, connect and join hands to overcome difficulties while encouraging everyone towards a bright future through the power to conquer new heights in sport.
The ceremony began with a dazzling firework display and a procession of the host country's national flag performed by six representative athletes and Japanese sports officials to the theme music of the famous opus Tokyo Story.
Immediately after the flag-raising ceremony, representatives of 206 sports delegations competing at the Games entered from the four corners of the stage and circled into a unified block, united in the friendship among the nations.
On the big screen, in turn, vivid images of the 16 days of competition were introduced along with outstanding achievements and records of athletes in the sports competing under the Olympic motto of “Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together”.
The Olympic Stadium in Tokyo became a festival of music, light and friendship. Athletes mingled with famous artists, singers and DJs in a joint dance performance with modern vibrant music and traditional Japanese cultural identity.
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Entertainers perform during the closing ceremony. (Photo: Getty Images)
As has become tradition at the Olympics, following the show was the award ceremony for athletes who excelled in the marathon, the oldest and most popular Olympic sport, with many athletes participating and receiving much support from fans. This is the first time in history that the victory ceremony was held at the Summer Games for both a men’s and women’s event. The athletes all held sunflowers in their hands, expressing their desire to move forward and conquer the heights of achievement.
Along with the ceremony of lowering the Olympic flag, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and the mayor of Tokyo City of the host country went to the stands to perform the handover ceremony of the Olympic flag to the mayor of Paris and leaders of the National Olympic Committee of France, the next hosts at the 33rd Olympics – 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The live images of a symphony orchestra and French artists performing during a brief, but impressive welcoming show were streamed live from Paris.
In his closing statement of Tokyo 2020, IOC President Thomas Bach emphasised: “With your excellence, with your joy, with your tears, you [the athletes] created the magic of these Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. You were faster, you went higher, you were stronger, because we all stood together – in solidarity… You inspired us with this unifying power of sport. This was even more remarkable given the many challenges you had to face because of the pandemic.”
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President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach and delegates during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (Photo: Getty Images)
The closing ceremony ended as the Olympic cauldron was gradually extinguished in the background to the song "Star Walk" while fireworks lit up in the sky of Tokyo. Despite facing many difficulties and challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have left many unforgettable echoes in history of a special Olympics.
* It was not until the last day of the competition that the US overleap the Chinese delegation on the top of the medal table. Three important gold medals on the last day thanks to women's basketball and volleyball teams, as well as in women’s track cycling, helped Team USA officially surpass China to rise to the top of the medal tally. The US demonstrated their superiority in modern sports such as swimming (11 gold medals), athletics (seven gold medals), and winning golds in both basketball and golf.
The Chinese team took the lead for most of the time at the Olympics and only lost the top spot on the final day of competition. China had made good use of its advantages in strong sports to collect medals such as seven out of eight gold medals in diving, four out of five gold medals in table tennis, as well as dominating in weightlifting with seven out of 14 gold medals, shooting with four out of 15 gold medals, and gymnastics with three gold medals while Russia and the US both won only two golds.
In addition to efforts to successfully organise the Olympics in extremely difficult conditions as of the pandemic, Japan also had a good preparation for the athletes. They lead in their strong sports, collecting nine out of 15 judo gold medals, five out of 19 wrestling gold medals, and two baseball and softball gold medals. Unfortunately, with the "national soul" sport - karate, the host country only won one gold medal, even though at Tokyo 2020, no team won two golds in this sport.
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Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya crosses the finish line during the men's marathon final on the final day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Sapporo Odori Park in Sapporo, Japan on August 8, 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)
The British delegation ended the last day of competition with the great achievement of Kenny Jason, the first person to win the gold medal in the men's keirin track cycling with a speed of up to 68.696 km/h. This victory put the British team ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). After that, Lauren Price claimed an absolute 5-0 victory in the women's 69 - 75kg boxing final against Li Qian - the former world champion in 2018 and the Asian champion in 2017 and 2019, thus blocking the Chinese delegation from the opportunity to win the top position.
The ROC maintained their records to stay in the top of the Olympics, continuing to dominate in sports that require both physical strength and dexterity, such as winning both gold medals in artistic swimming, leading in fencing (collecting three out of 12 golds) and taekwondo (two out of eight golds).
The Tokyo Olympics recorded a strong rise in swimming by Australia, winning nine out of 17 gold medals to hold the sixth place. The Netherlands, France, Germany, and Italy are in the top 10, and all won 10 gold medals respectively. In which, Italy rose strongly in athletics (five gold medals), while Germany won three golds in equestrian events.
Cuba is still the number one power in boxing, winning four out of 13 gold medals, accounting for more than half (four out of seven) of the gold medals won by the Cuban team. The Republic of Korea made a strong breakthrough in archery, winning four out of five gold medals, but completely failed to collect any gold in its "national" sport – taekwondo.
Southeast Asian sports recognised the outstanding success of the Philippine delegation. Not often making it through to the top three at the Southeast Asian Games, the Philippines are firmly at the top in the region at this year's Olympics, with the 50th place in the medal tally. Indonesia and Thailand share a gold medal at 55th and 59th respectively. Malaysia collected one silver and one bronze to tie for 74th place.
Vietnam and Singapore both collected a gold medal in the previous Olympics but were unable to win any medals at Tokyo 2020. Singapore’s swimmer Joseph Schooling, who won the gold medal to break the 2016 Olympic record, is still receiving a lot of investment from the Singapore government, with long-term training at major sports centres in the US, but his performance declined, ranking only 44 out of 55 athletes competing in men’s 100m butterfly, and 39 out of 71 in the 100m freestyle at Tokyo 2020.
