Tokyo doused its Olympic flame on Sunday in a ceremony that echoed the restraint of the games held without spectators and transformed by the global pandemic, dazzling sport and deeply personal turmoil.
After postponing the Tokyo 2020 Games for a year, organisers said the event would serve as a symbol of world triumph over the pandemic. But with strict pandemic countermeasures and as COVID-19 variants have surged back around the world, the Olympics fell short of the triumph and financial windfall Japan had wanted.
The ceremony, although lustreless, gave athletes something of a glimpse of everyday Tokyo life as the Olympic Stadium was transformed into a park with grass, buskers and BMX riders.
The scene was meant so the visitors could “experience Tokyo”, organisers said, a poignant reminder of the many restrictions of the games.
It was a duly odd ending to an unprecedented event. Japan is now saddled with a $15bn bill, double what it initially expected, and with no tourist boom.
The president of the International Olympic Committee thanked the Japanese people and acknowledged the difficulty of staging the games during the pandemic.
“For the first time since the pandemic began, the entire world came together,” Thomas Bach said. “Nobody has ever organised a postponed games before.”
Public anger over the pandemic response and a slow-to-start vaccine rollout have badly damaged Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s standing. Public opinion polls showed most Japanese opposed holding the games during the pandemic.
Still, organisers appear to have prevented the Tokyo Games from spiralling into a COVID-19 super-spreader event, notable given that some 50,000 people came together amid the pandemic.
Fireworks are seen from outside the stadium during the closing ceremony from the Shibuya Sky observation deck [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
In a sign of the measures, winners accepted their prizes from trays, putting the medals around their own necks, although social-distancing protocols such as preventing hugging were largely ignored throughout the games.
While the bubble – the set of venues and hotels to which Olympic visitors were largely confined – appeared to hold, elsewhere some things fell apart. Fuelled by the Delta variant of the virus, daily infections spiked to more than 5,000 for the first time in Tokyo, threatening to overwhelm its hospitals.
Japan’s record medal haul also helped to take out some of the stings for organisers. The United States finished top of the tally with 39 gold medals, one more than rivals China at 38 and Japan at 27.
The games also showcased the Olympics’ push for more diversity.
For the first time, a victory ceremony was held for both the women’s and men’s marathon events. The Kenyan anthem filled the 68,000-capacity stadium twice, for gold medallists Peres Jepchirchir and Eliud Kipchoge. And when they came, the games themselves provided plenty of high drama.
Fireworks explode as a sign that says ‘Thank You’ is displayed at the end of the closing ceremony [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]
In a moment more reminiscent of the Cold War, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya refused to board a flight home after she was taken to the airport against her wishes. She has since sought refugee status in Poland.
US superstar gymnast Simone Biles shocked the world when she pulled out of five of her six events, including abruptly abandoning the women’s team final after attempting just one vault, citing concerns for her mental and physical health.
Her frank admission, combined with earlier comments by Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka, brought a sharp focus on issues of athletes’ mental health.
In athletics, Italy provided a different kind of shock with their amazing run. Their wins included a stunning gold in the men’s sprint relay, taking their athletics gold tally to five.
In swimming, a US team without 23-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps still ended the meeting on top of the medals table.
Capping five years of intense preparations for athletes, some of them stretched out on the grass laid down in the stadium. Some appeared to relax as they watched a volley of fireworks light up the Tokyo sky.
For the first time ever, the closing ceremony featured live celebrations from the next host city as the people of Paris welcomed the handover of the Olympic flag.
In a pre-recorded video, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet performed the French national anthem on his saxophone – in zero gravity – from the International Space Station as a symbol of the Olympics’ universality, and jets released blue, white and red smoke – the colours of the French flag – over the skies of the capital.
French President Emmanuel Macron was filmed on the top floor of the Eiffel Tower reciting the newly updated Olympic slogan “higher, faster, stronger, together”.
The evening concluded at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo with a final flurry of fireworks and the word “Arigato” – Japanese word for thank you – lighting up the night sky.
TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors are expected to confirm today that Vince Carter’s No. 15 will be the first number to be retired by the NBA franchise.
Carter will attend an MLSE Foundation event this afternoon at the renovated Vince Carter Court at a park in the city’s northwest end.
Raptors president and vice-chairman Masai Ujiri will also be on hand along with some current players and city officials.
Reports this week said that Canada’s lone NBA team would honour Carter on Nov. 2 when Toronto plays the Sacramento Kings at Scotiabank Arena.
Carter, an eight-time all-star, played parts of seven seasons with the Raptors. He was named NBA rookie of the year in 1999 and won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2000.
He was the Raptors’ first superstar and is credited for raising the profile of the team and igniting enthusiasm for basketball across Canada.
Carter guided the Raptors to the Eastern Conference semifinal in 2001. Toronto had a chance to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 but Carter’s shot at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced out.
He asked for a trade in 2004 and was dealt to New Jersey in a mid-season deal that saw the Raptors receive little in return. The Nets, who are now based in Brooklyn, plan to retire Carter’s number in January.
Carter played 22 seasons in the NBA before retiring after the 2019-20 season. He’ll be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame next month.
The Raptors are celebrating their 30th anniversary this season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 58th home run, going deep for the fifth straight game to help the New York Yankees wrap up their second AL East title in three years with a 10-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.
Giancarlo Stanton had four RBIs that included his 27th homer, Alex Verdugo also homered and Gerrit Cole outpitched Corbin Burnes in a possible postseason preview. Judge and Stanton homered in the same game for the 14th time this year, tying Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961 for the most in Yankees history.
New York assured itself a first-round bye and home-field advantage in a best-of-five AL Division Series starting Oct. 5.
Baltimore, which clinched a postseason berth by winning Tuesday night’s opener of the three-game series, will be in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.
Stanton homered in the second to put the Yankees ahead and hit a three-run double in a six-run sixth.
Judge hit a two-run homer in the seventh against Bryan Baker and has 144 RBIs, the most in the major leagues since Ryan Howard’s 146 in 2008. Judge matched his career best by homering in five consecutive games.
Making his last start before the playoffs, Cole (8-5) allowed two hits in 6 2/3 innings, struck out five and walked one, lowering his ERA to 3.41. He struck out Anthony Santander with a 98.1 mph fastball that ended the eighth after plate umpire David Rackley called a ball on the previous pitch, a knuckle-curve that appeared to be just above the strike zone. Cole glared as the umpire as the pitcher walked back to the dugout.
Cole was given a standing ovation when he walked to the dugout with two outs in the seventh and tipped his cap to the crowd of 42,022.
Burnes (15-9) allowed two hits in five innings, one walk and nine strikeouts — including eight on cutters. Burnes came out after 69 pitches and is likely to start the Orioles’ postseason opener on Tuesday. He had a 1.20 ERA in five September starts.
Stanton lofted a slider at the bottom of the strike zone into the left-field seats after missing badly at a slider on the prior pitch.
Austin Wells, in a 4-for-42 slide, forced in a run when he walked with the bases loaded against Cionel Pérez. Stanton drove the next pitch on one hop to the wall in right-center for a 5-1 lead. Stanton has 72 RBIs after hitting 6 for 18 with two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in his last five games.
Anthony Rizzo added a two-run single against Baker.
Emmanuel Rivera hit a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for the Orioles.
UP NEXT
Orioles: LHP Cade Povich (2-9, 5.59) starts a series opener at Minnesota on Friday, when LHP Pablo López (15-9, 4.11) will be on the mound for the Twins.
Yankees: LHP Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.98), 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA since the All-Star break. starts Friday’s series opener against Pirates RHP Jared Jones (6-8, 4.14).
OTTAWA – Noah Ostlund scored the overtime winner for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 pre-season win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Buffalo’s lineup had a combined total of just over 100 NHL games of experience as most of its regular roster is in Munich, Germany for the upcoming Global Series Challenge.
Felix Sandstrom made 14 saves for the Sabres (4-0-0). Josh Dunne and Isak Rosen had the Buffalo goals.
Adam Gaudette and Noah Gregor scored for Ottawa. Linus Ullmark made his first start in a Senators (3-1-0) uniform and didn’t disappoint, stopping 28 of 29 shots through 30 minutes of play.
Dustin Tokarski made 10 saves over a period and a half.
Ottawa opened the scoring at 7:55 after Carter Yakemchuk made a great defensive play to create a turnover. Gregor was then sent down the wing and he beat Sandstrom on the glove side.
Buffalo tied the game at the 10-minute mark. Vsevolod Komarov made a cross-crease pass to Dunne who stepped into the faceoff circle and beat Ullmark.
Buffalo had a 24-5 edge in shots after the first period.
Gaudette gave Ottawa the lead midway through the third with a power-play goal that was set up by Yakemchuk. Rosen tied it with 40.7 seconds remaining.
The Senators were expected to make a number of cuts after the game to reduce the size of their roster.
NOTES: The Sabres were given a special exemption from the league before the game. Teams usually have to dress a minimum of eight NHL veterans, but Buffalo didn’t have any in its lineup.
UP NEXT: The Senators will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday in Sudbury, while the Sabres will head to Columbus on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
Fireworks explode as a sign that says ‘Thank You’ is displayed at the end of the closing ceremony [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]
