After 16 days and 339 medals, across 33 sports the Tokyo Olympics has comes to an end. There are always tears when the Olympic flame goes dark but this time it was more than a tear, it was a feeling of solidarity within the Olympic movement the athletes, the international federations, the IOC and the LOC. You could see the joy and the thank you’s of the athletes for making these games possible and making their Olympic dream come true. This is why the message was not “sayonara” which means good bye but “arigato”.. a big thank you.
Many said Tokyo 2020, would be a disaster but we could all agree, it was a delight. A thank you must go to the IOC and the LOC in their unified determination to stage this event. Tokyo 2020, can only be described as a triumph for sport.
The athletes inspired all of us and in the dark hours of the world pandemic it was there, where sport united us. Where nations unified behind their athletes and as the IOC wisely put, it was a game of hope, solidarity and peace.
Now let us get ready for the Paralympics. Once again, a festival of para sporting spectacle, 539 events and 22 sports taking place from august 24th in Tokyo. Let us all look forward to the flame festival in the run up to the opening ceremony, spanning across all of Japan’s 43 prefectures and also Stoke Mandeville in the UK, the birth place of the Paralympic movement. They all will come together in Tokyo.