‘Marvelous’ Rio throws final party

[gallery size="full" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="‘Marvelous’ Rio throws final party" ids="79199,79254,79255"]RIO DE JANEIRO — The Rio Olympics ended in a blaze of color with an exuberant closing ceremony Sunday as Tokyo took up the baton promising to host the best Games yet in 2020. After a rollercoaster fortnight which mixed off-field hitches with compelling sporting drama, Olympics chief Thomas Bach hailed a “marvelous” Games in the Brazilian city. “These were marvelous Olympic Games in the marvelous city!” said Bach, as he declared the Games closed and the Olympic flame was extinguished. The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, accepted the flag from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, signaling the end of the 2016 Games and the transition. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a comical cameo as Nintendo video game character Super Mario as Tokyo set out its stall for 2020. Whatever the future holds, Sunday’s party was all about Brazil, a final party designed to be more low-key than the opening, which focused heavily on Rio. The ceremony opened with original footage of Alberto Santos Dumont, the man that Brazilians recognize as the inventor of the airplane. Brazilians also believe he is the first to ever wear a wristwatch, an invention made by a friend so he could see the time in flight. The theme of the show was “Brazilians can do with their bare hands,” a nod to the emerging economy of the world’s fifth most populous nation. Dressed in colorful feathers, dozens of dancers formed in the shape of the arches of Lapa, a popular area of Rio akin to Roman ruins, then morphed to make the shape of iconic Sugarloaf before quickly changing again, this time to the official 2016 symbol. Samba legend Martinho da Vila, whose tunes make their way into many popular telenovelas, sang “Carinhoso,” or “Affectionate.” Then the athletes poured in under light rain, waving their flags while many shook their bodies to samba-infused pop that made the stadium feel like a Carnival parade. Britain’s athletes wore shoes with soles that lit up in changing colors of red, white and blue, while Tongan taekwondo athlete Pita Taufatofua danced onstage in a grass skirt as a DJ performed, reprising a moment that captured attention when he carried the flag for his country during the opening ceremony. The show also built performances around “saudade,” which means anything from longing for someone to sadness to remembering good times. It is one of the most important words in Brazilian Portuguese. Lights flashed translations for the word in many languages, and a group of women sang “Mulher Rendeira,” or “Lace-making Woman,” a nod to the country’s African heritage. Brazil was the last country in the Americas to outlaw slavery, in 1888. 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. Swathes of empty seats caused disquiet but the Games also witnessed the last hurrahs of both Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, who both lived up to their billing. Bolt sealed the sprint “triple triple” in his final Games, reaching a record-equaling nine gold medals with his third consecutive 100m, 200m and 4x100m sweep. Swim legend Phelps took his unmatched career haul to 23 gold medals with another five in Rio — plus a silver, after his loss to former childhood fan Joseph Schooling. Brazil came late to the party but the country celebrated long and loud when Neymar won a gold-medal penalty shoot-out against Germany to erase memories of its 7-1 World Cup semifinal humiliation in 2014. On a sodden final day, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, 31, shone with his seventh win in eight marathons, timing 2hr 8min 44sec to win by more than a minute. The American 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, America matched its tally of 46 golds from London four years ago to lead the medals table from Britain, which sealed surprise second place ahead of China with 27 golds to 26. For China, the world’s most populous country, it was the worst Olympics for 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 lowest of the last three Olympics. This points to a rebuilding phase ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the capital of China’s war-time rival and former colonial power which still evokes bitter resentment among many Chinese. A string of below-par performances saw India win just two medals, fewer than the six clinched during its 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. And police seized passports, phones 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 it beat Italy 3-0 to win the men’s title in volleyball, one of the country’s most popular sports. Eight other nations earned their first Olympic gold medal: Bahrain in the women’s steeplechase, Fiji in the men’s Rugby Sevens, Ivory Coast and Jordan in the men’s taekwondo, Kosovo in women’s judo, Puerto Rico in women’s tennis, Tajikistan in men’s hammer-throwing and Vietnam in men’s shooting. — Agencies