Tokyo Olympics close as Japan weighs legacy of pandemic Games

COVID resurgence and public opposition overshadow sustainability bright spots

20210808 olympic flame is extinguished

The Olympic flame is extinguished during the closing ceremony on Aug. 8. (Photo by Takaki Kashiwabara) 

FRANCESCA REGALADO and RURIKA IMAHASHI, Nikkei staff writers

TOKYO -- Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike passed the Olympic flag to Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo on Sunday night, as the closing ceremony drew a curtain on Japan's ill-starred Games.

With the Paralympics still to come, over 4,500 athletes and team officials marched into the National Stadium as one group, behind the flags of the 206 national Olympic committees and to the tune of the Olympic March written by Yuji Koseki for the 1964 Tokyo Games.

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