Tokyo, Japan, August 8, 2021: The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, closed the Games of the XXXII Olympiad at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday night.
With athletes from all over the world converging on the Japanese capital at the time of a global pandemic, the IOC President said sport and the Olympic Games had provided hope for the future and that the athletes had inspired everyone with their efforts.
“For the first time since the pandemic began, the entire world came together,” President Bach said in his address.
“Sport returned to centre stage. Billions of people around the globe were united by emotion, sharing moments of joy and inspiration. This gives us hope. This gives us faith in the future.”
Turning his attention towards the athletes who had assembled in the stadium, he added: “Over the last 16 days, you amazed us with your sporting achievements. With your excellence, with your joy, with your tears, you created the magic of these Olympic Games.
“You were faster, you went higher, you were stronger, because we all stood together – in solidarity and peace.
“You inspired us with this unifying power of sport. This is even more remarkable given the many challenges you had to face because of the pandemic.
“Thank you, Tokyo. Thank you, Japan,” he added. “We did it together!”
The IOC President then declared the Games closed and asked the youth of the world to gather in Paris in three years’ time for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Earlier, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike had passed the Olympic flag to the IOC President who in turn handed it to the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.
In an Olympic first, the closing ceremony was split between two countries and featured live celebrations from the next host city as viewers were taken to Paris where a giant flag of the 2024 Games was shown from the Eiffel Tower.
France’s elite air display team Patrouille de France flew overhead colouring the sky in the tricolour of blue, white and red, while celebrations got underway on the streets below with a public party and concert.
“Even as the Games close, a new door opens,” Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said. “A door to the future, opened by athletes and the power of sport. Sport has the power to change the world and our future – and this power, I believe, will carry us through to the next Summer Games in Paris in 2024."
In a sea of blue light, the flame was extinguished as the petals on the cauldron closed shut, marking the end of the Olympic Games but with the Paralympic Games still to come on August 24.