Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge produced a marathon masterclass, and the USA edged China at the top of the Tokyo Olympics medals table as the curtain fell on the biggest global sports event since the Covid pandemic began. The Olympic flag will now pass to 2024 hosts Paris.
After Kipchoge’s marathon win for Kenya, the United States scored victories in volleyball, track cycling and basketball to top the medals table with 39 golds, just one ahead of China.
Marathon world record holder Kipchoge showed his class, kicking in the closing stages and clocking 2hr 08min 38sec to retain the title he won in 2016.
The 339th and final gold medal went to Serbia’s men’s water polo team, capping a Games that were in serious danger of cancellation after they became the first postponed Olympics last year.
Thirty-three sports have been contested across 16 days in largely empty stadiums, with fans barred because of coronavirus risks and athletes living in strict biosecure conditions.
“Some were already speaking of ‘Ghost Games’,” Olympics chief Thomas Bach told an International Olympic Committee session ahead of the closing ceremony on Sunday.
“What we have seen here is that on the contrary the athletes have brought soul to the Olympic Games.”
Performances break down Japanese resistance
The Olympics were plagued by low Japanese support over fears they would become a super-spreader event, but officials maintained that a record haul of 27 gold medals, putting Japan third on the table, has won hearts.
“We believe our athletes’ earnest spirit and all-out performance moved people,” said Tsuyoshi Fukui, chef de mission for the Japanese team.
France finished in eighth position, with 10 gold medals, 33 in all.
Sunday’s closing ceremony got underway at an Olympic Stadium empty of spectators, rounding off an extraordinary Games conducted mostly for a worldwide TV audience of billions.
In the course of the ceremony, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo received the Olympic flag and with it, the responsibility of hosting the next edition of the world’s greatest sporting show.
Source: Modern Ghana