An Olympiad ends, another begins. The first was historically long, five years, with the last one undoubtedly seemed to the Japanese organizers that it would never end. Consequently, the next one will also be historic, but for its short duration. Three years before the Paris 2024 Games. A lot and very little at the same time.
What should be remembered from the Tokyo Games? One thing, first of all, anything but obvious: that they took place at all. The challenge long seemed insurmountable. Yet the Japanese persevered. They had little to gain, and surely a lot to lose. The event will leave them with a tab whose true figures we will have to wait to discover. But history will remember the Tokyo Games as being the first, the only global gathering since the start of the pandemic.
“I think we can already say that we have experienced very successful Olympic Games,” suggested Thomas Bach this Sunday morning, at the close of the IOC session.
From these Games, we must also remember that they were not disrupted by the closing affairs of Tokyo 2020. On to Beijing 2022. And then, most importantly, to Paris 2024. Yuriko Koike, the governor of the Japanese capital, returned the Olympic flag to Thomas Bach. The IOC president then handed it over to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris. The gesture is highly ceremonial. It has long been part of the Olympic ceremonies’ protocol.
