OLYMPICS

[BOREALIS]

Rio bids the world a fond farewell

The Olympic flag was symbolically passed from Mr Paes, via the IOC President, to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike

https://www.olympic.org/news/rio-bids-the-world-a-fond-farewell https://www.olympic.org/news/

President Bach then took the stage flanked by the Mayor of Rio Eduardo Paes and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, as the focus shifted from the current host city to its successor in 2020




As a choir of Rio children sang the Olympic anthem, the Olympic flag was then passed symbolically from Mr Paes, via the IOC President, to Ms Koike. The scene was thus set for Tokyo 2020 to take centre stage, as Sugar Loaf mountain gave way to Mount Fuji, and the central area of the stadium morphed into a huge Japanese flag, accompanied by the country’s national anthem. “Rio obrigado arigato” (thank you Rio in Portuguese and Japanese) read the giant message that appeared in the middle of the stadium, which was then repeated in dozens of other languages.