The Party’s Over, Rio…
The 31st Olympiad in Rio just came to a denouement with plenty of dramas in and out of the games. The world had feared the event might at worst be smeared with terroism but luckily the parade of soft targets managed to survive save petty thefts in the streets.
The flame is out Rio 2016 #OlympicGames ends with confetti and a firework show! It has been magnificient! #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/hs2vrqhN9e
— Rio 2016 (@Rio2016_en) 2016年8月22日
The 17-day sporting event turned out to be a stage of Japan's phenomenal accomplishments - men and women alike- aggregating a total of 41 medals, most ever collected in the Olympic games. This is a dynamic fanfare for Tokyo's second challenge in the year 2020.
The 41 medals comprise 12 golds, 8 silvers and 21 bronzes. Japan won gold medals in two digits for the first time in 3 games and marked 6th in country ranking and 7th in the number of medals won.
Among the medalists are the 19-year-old gymnast Kenzo Shirai and the 15-year-old table tennis wizard Mima Ito - symbolizing Japan's ambition in 2020 to place 3rd in the race for gold medals.
The US topped all with 46 golds and the UK outraced China with 27, Russia competing with 30% fewer athletes on account of the bothers over doping managed 19 golds to finish 4th after China with 26.
In the closing ceremony the IOC chief Thomas Bach handed the baton over to the new-elected Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. Tokyo's promotional performance that followed the ceremony, the gold-medal-winning breaststroke legend Kosuke Kitajima took part to add grace to the occasion.
The 32nd Tokyo Olympics is slated to open on July 24, 2020, and will feature a total of new 18 events in 5 games including baseball, softball, Karate, etc.
Rio will host the Paralympics from September 7 through 18 over 22 games.
If asked which to pick to remember Rio by, I would pick two: the silver-medal-winning men's 400-relay and Kohei Uchimura and his mates' gold medals in artistic gymnastics. What a thrill that was.
The party's over; it's all over, my friends.
(Nathan Shiga)
