Bajrang Punia was India’s standard bearer when the Tokyo Olympics ended with the closing ceremony at the Olympic Stadium. India finished the Games with a record seven medals.
The Tokyo Olympics were declared closed by IOC President Thomas Bach at the end of the ceremony. (AP photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Bajrang Punia was India’s standard bearer at the graduation ceremony
- IOC President Thomas Bach presented the Olympic flag to the Mayor of Paris, the next host of the Olympic Games
- India won a record of seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics, beating the previous all-time high of six in London in 2012
Bronze medalist Bajrang Punia led the Indian contingent as the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony was held in an empty Tokyo Olympic stadium on Sunday. Bajrang was the designated flag bearer for India at the closing ceremony, with boxing size Mary Kom and the captain of the men’s ice hockey team Manpreet Singh being India’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, declared the Games closed at the end of the ceremony, marking the end of an Olympics that was held amid strict restrictions and an emergency in Tokyo due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For India, the closing ceremony marked the end of a memorable campaign in which the contingent won seven medals, the most they have ever won in a single edition of the Olympics.
Bajrang Punia was India’s standard bearer at the graduation ceremony. (PTI photo)
The ceremony featured park scenes from Tokyo and Paris, which will host the Olympic Games in 2024. In Tokyo, the athletes got a surreal insight into everyday life in the city, when the closing ceremony briefly in a park with grass, street musicians and BMX riders in a farewell speech after weeks of games in the regime of a pandemic.
The performers danced, hopped and played soccer, mingled and waved to the athletes who gathered close together on the lawn. Organizers said the scene was meant to “experience Tokyo,” a poignant nod to the fact that many spent their time at the games indoors or at venues.
The games took place under strict quarantine rules and, due to the pandemic, in mostly empty venues.
Incredible fireworks at the end of the @ Toyko2020 #Graduation ceremony. # Stronger together pic.twitter.com/6gVtHxlj9S
– Olympics (@Olympics) August 8, 2021
In Paris, thousands of sports fans waving the tricolor huddled in a fan zone across the river from the Eiffel Tower as the French capital prepared to remove the Olympic baton from Tokyo. Public access to the fan zone was only allowed after presentation of vaccination certificates and negative Covid-19 tests.
Click here for IndiaToday.in’s full coverage of the corona pandemic.
إرسال تعليق