Curtains drawn on ‘marvellous’ Games

RIO DE JANEIRO: The Rio Olympics ended in a blaze of colour with an exuberant closing ceremony on Sunday as Tokyo took up the baton promising to host the best Games

Published on: Aug 23, 2016, 06:30:27 IST

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RIO DE JANEIRO: The Rio Olympics ended in a blaze of colour with an exuberant closing ceremony on Sunday as Tokyo took up the baton promising to host the best Games yet in 2020.

After a roller-coaster fortnight which mixed off-field hitches with compelling sporting drama, Olympics chief Thomas Bach hailed a “marvellous” Games in the Brazilian city.

“These were marvellous Games in the marvellous city!” said Bach, as he declared the Games closed.

“These Olympic Games are leaving a unique legacy for generations to come. History will talk about a Rio de Janeiro before and a much better Rio de Janeiro after the Olympic Games.”

At the closing ceremony, thousands of fans and athletes donned ponchos on a wet and windy night for a colourful festival of Brazilian culture and music with bursts of spectacular fireworks.

Smiling and waving athletes danced into the Maracana stadium taking selfies as Rio’s 16-day Summer Games closed ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a comical cameo as Nintendo video game character Super Mario as Tokyo set out its stall for 2020. “The Japanese government will... work hard so it will be the best Olympics ever,” Abe said as he met Japanese medal-winners earlier.

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