Following Olympic tradition, the Game’s final medals were awarded during the closing ceremony, to Kenyan veteran runner Eliud Kipchoge who won the men’s marathon on Sunday, and to Ethiopian Feyisa Lilesa and USA athlete Galen Rupp who finished second and third.
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This points to a rebuilding phase ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the capital of China’s war-time rival and former colonial power which still evokes bitter resentment among many Chinese.
In a symbolic gesture, Rio’s mayor Eduardo Paes handed the Olympic flag to Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, who will need to prepare for the world’s biggest sporting event in the coming years. Cariocas as Rio’s residents are known weren’t swayed by the issues that led up to these Olympics, and braved rain and strong winds on the final night to cap their moment in the worldwide spotlight. It was one big bash.
The colourful ceremony, lasting nearly three hours, celebrated Brazil’s arts and was held in a wet Maracana. Still, Brazil showed Sunday it still definitely knows how to party.
But Sunday’s party was all about Brazil, created to be more low-key than the opening, which focused heavily on Rio. This was an ode to Brazil’s emerging economy and fifth most populous nation.
Figures dressed as multi-coloured macaws flew over Rio’s world-famous landmarks, Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain, before forming the five Olympic rings to start off the show.
Among the highlights were Tokyo’s impressive showcase and a vibrant carnival parade.
People watch Britain’s athletes parade into Maracana stadium during the closing ceremony at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. Pita Taufatofua, Tonga’s taekwondo athlete, danced in a grass skirt on skirt while a DJ performed music. This was akin to the moment that captured worldwide attention when he was the Tongan flagbearer durirg the opening ceremony.
Just a few hours earlier, the United States basketball squad won the last gold of the Games, boosting their country’s place on top of the medals table.
Five countries won their first gold medal – Kosovo (Majlinda Kelmendi, judo); Fiji (men’s Rugby sevens); Singapore (Joseph Schooling, 100m butterfly); Puerto Rico (Monica Puig, tennis singles) and Vietnam (Xuan Vinh; 10m air pistol).
One of the more stunning moments of the ceremony focused on the ancient art found in the Serra da Capivara National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage site in northeastern Brazil featuring cave paintings, some more than 25,000 years old. Something the three athletes on the podium will never forget. Bach draped gold around the neck of Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, victor of the men’s marathon earlier in the day.
Brazil and the world bid farewell Sunday to the first Olympic Games in South America, a 16-day spectacle that combined numerous highlight reel moments with ugly and even freaky episodes that sometimes overshadowed the competitions. The Games featured 11,303 athletes from 206 nations and one refugee team.
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“These were marvelous Olympic Games in the ‘marvelous city, ‘” said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, playing off the “cidade maravilhosa” nickname of Brazil’s postcard city of inviting coastlines, year-round sun and lush tropical vegetation.
