A rollicking closing ceremony with the theme “Worlds We Share” — an optimistic but ironic notion at this human moment — featured everything from stunt bikes to intricate light shows as it tried to convey a “celebratory and liberating atmosphere” for athletes after a tense two weeks.
That was less about being remiss than about being real: Risks that could be mitigated were, but at the same time events had to go on.
The closing ceremony Sunday reflected that — and, at times, nudged the proceedings toward a sci-fi flavor.
Even the parade of athletes carrying national flags — thousands of Olympians, masked and unmasked, clustering together before fanning out into the world again — was affected.
Among the highlights: Allyson Felix taking a U.S.-record 11th medal in track, then stepping away from the Olympic stage.
That produced barely more than 400 positives, a far cry from the rest of non-Olympic bubble Japan, where surges in positive cases provoked the government to declare increasingly widespread states of emergency.
And, of course, there was that other microcosm of human life that the Games revealed — the reckoning with mental and emotional health, and the pressure put on Earth’s top-tier athletes to compete hard and succeed at almost any cost.
While Tokyo is handing off the Summer Games baton to Paris for 2024, the delay has effectively crammed two Olympics together.
In Paris on Sunday, people gathered in a fan zone near the Eiffel Tower, waving small French flags.
In recent weeks, lots of people — officials, athletes, journalists — have been chewing over how these Tokyo Games will be remembered.
The expenses — upwards of $15 billion — were colossal and will echo in Tokyo long after athletes are gone.
But as the cauldron is snuffed out Sunday night after the Pandemic Olympics conclude, it’s easy to argue that Tokyo can take its place as a Games that didn’t fail — as one that overcame a lot to even happen at all.
“We are in a new normal, and this edition of the Games were a different affair,” it said.
The Olympic flame burns during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug.
Kiyuna Ryo, of Japan, carries the flag during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug.