The Rio Olympics on Sunday ended in a blaze of color with an exuberant closing ceremony as Tokyo took up the baton promising to host the best Games yet in 2020.
After a rollercoaster fortnight that mixed off-field hitches with compelling sporting drama, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach hailed a “marvelous” Games in the Brazilian city.
“These were marvelous Olympic Games in the marvelous city!” Bach said, as he declared the Games closed and the Olympic flame was extinguished.
Photo: AP
“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,” he said.
Just a few hours earlier, the US men’s basketball squad won the last gold of the Games, boosting their country’s place on top of the medals table.
At the closing ceremony, thousands of fans and athletes donned ponchos on a wet and windy night for a colorful 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.
Japanese 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.
Security scares and logistical problems were a feature of South America’s first Olympics, held against the backdrop of Brazil’s political and economic crisis.
On a sodden final day, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, 31, shone with his seventh win in eight marathons, timing 2 hours, 8 minutes, 44 seconds to win by more than a minute.
The US’ basketball “Dream Team” of NBA stars claimed the 306th and final gold of the Games with a crushing 96-66 win over Serbia.
With the basketball win, the US matched its tally of 46 golds from London four years ago to lead the medals table ahead of Britain, which sealed surprise second place ahead of China with 27 golds to 26.
“We are one of those sporting superpowers now,” UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl said.
For China, the world’s most populous country, it was the worst Olympics in 20 years — especially sobering after topping the standings at Beijing 2008 and finishing second in 2012.
China brought to Rio a youthful team with an average age of 24, the youngest of the past three Olympics.
This points to a rebuilding phase ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
A string of below-par performances saw India win just two medals, fewer than the six clinched during their best-ever performance in London four years earlier.
There was also controversy as Mongolia’s Chagnaadorj Usukhbayar became the sixth weightlifter in Rio to fail a drugs test.
Police seized passports, telephones and computers in a raid on the Irish Olympic office, following the arrest of Irish International Olympic Committee member Patrick Hickey over an alleged black market tickets scam.
Brazil added a final flourish as they beat Italy 3-0 to win the men’s title in volleyball, one of the country’s most popular sports.
There were furious scenes when a Mongolian coach stripped down to his underwear to protest a decision against wrestler Ganzorig Mandakhnaran.
See Rio’s on page 9
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry
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