'United By Emotion': Athletes wave goodbye as Tokyo Olympics ends

TOKYO: At the Closing Ceremony of Tokyo Olympics, wrestler Bajrang Punia on Sunday entered the stadium holding aloft India's flag and joined flag-bearers of other national Olympic contingents to mark the end of 17-days of the Games, which saw athletes from over 200 countries participated.

Punia along with flag bearers of other countries walked into the centre of the stadium and formed a ring around a dias as the whole area lit up to celebrate the hard work of everyone associated with the Tokyo Olympics that witnessed sporting excellence across 33 sports.

This year the Games were held with COVID-19 induced restrictions and all sports were played behind closed doors.

About 11,000 athletes from over 200 countries competed in Tokyo Olympics. India recorded its best-ever haul at the Olympics with seven medals (one gold, two silver, and four bronze).

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra bagged a gold medal for India on Saturday and as a result, India registered its first-ever gold in athletics at the Games.

Bajrang (bronze), Mirabai Chanu (silver), PV Sindhu (bronze), Lovlina Borgohain (bronze), men's hockey team ( bronze), and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (silver) have also won medals in the Tokyo Games.

Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Sunday said that the Tokyo Games were held successfully and it gave hope to the entire world.

"I think we can already now say with confidence that we have experienced a very successful Olympic Games," Kyodo News quoted Bach as saying.

"I think we can say with confidence that these Olympic Games happened at the right time and that the athletes for whom we did it really appreciated it and considered it also to be the right moment in time to come together again and give hope and confidence not only to the Olympic community but for the entire world," he added.