By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Tokyo

TOKYO, 09 AUGUST 2021 --- Many international media networks describe the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a ‘Perseverance Games’ where athletes found their voice and talked about what it felt like to make sacrifices for four years, to come to the Games without friends, to compete in near empty venues and to put themselves out there and know they will not be judged on who they are but on how fast they run, how well they shoot or how well they swim and more. 

Acknowledging the athletes, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach said; “With your excellence, with your joy, with your tears, you created the magic of these Olympic Games.

"You were faster, you went higher, you were stronger, because we all stood together – in solidarity.

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"You were competing fiercely with each other for Olympic glory. At the same time, you were living peacefully together under one roof in the Olympic Village. This is a powerful message of solidarity and peace.

Bach said Tokyo 2020 demonstrated the unifying power of sport – in an uncertain world, giving people hope.

"For the first time since the pandemic began, the entire world came together. Sport returned to centre stage. Billions of people around the globe were united by emotion, sharing moments of joy and inspiration. This gives us hope. This gives us faith in the future.    

France has promised to ‘bring something new and contribute to the evolution of the Games in 2024. Paris will host the 33rd Olympiad in 2024.

"With Paris 2024, our ambition is to offer a new model to open the Games to more people. This starts with offering the Games to the city.

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"Our plan is based on taking sport out of its traditional spaces and putting competitions at the heart of the city, in front of the most famous Parisian landmarks; the Eiffel Tower for beach volleyball, wrestling and judo, and equestrian sport at the Chateau de Versailles.

"The ambition is simple: invite the world, including the hundreds of millions of viewers, into the very heart of Paris,” said President of the Paris 2024 organising committee Tony Estanguet.

Estanguet is "inviting the world to the very heart of Paris" after the French capital took the baton from Tokyo at Sunday's Closing Ceremony.

A spectacular end to the Games with the theme "Worlds We Share" that featured everything from stunt bikes to intricate light shows to convey a "celebratory and liberating atmosphere" for athletes after a tense two weeks’ competition – before it crossed to a live feed from Paris, host of the 2024 Summer Games. 

Paris last hosted the Olympic Games in 1924, and we’ve waited a century for the Olympic rings to return,” Estanguet said.

"We waited an extra year for this moment, but we are already waiting 100 years to bring the Olympic flag back to Paris, so the excitement is very strong in our team and back home in France,” he said.

As the curtain drops on Tokyo 2020, Seiko Hashimoto chief of the Games organising committee reminded athletes as they prepare to leave to keep the flame of the power of sport ignited into the next Summer Games.

"Tonight the Olympic flame that has lit up Tokyo will quietly go out. But the hope that has been ignited here will never be extinguished. It will remain alight in the hearts of people all over the world as we continue to hope for peace in the spirit of Ekecheiria, a tradition unbroken from the ancient Olympic Games, said Hashimoto.

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Thomas Bach then declared the 32 Olympiad close with – “We did it like athletes and for the athletes. We did it – together!

"In accordance with tradition, I call upon the youth of the world to assemble three years from now in Paris, France, to celebrate with us the Games of the 33rd Olympiad,” said Bach.

Team USA overtook China Sunday to finish with the most gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics with 39. The U.S also clinched the overall count in Tokyo with 113 medals, its second-biggest haul dating back to the 1988 Games after winning 121 in Rio. China finished second in the overall count with 88 medals while Japan came in third with 58, including 27 gold medals. 

While Tokyo is handing off the Summer Games baton to Paris for 2024, the delay has effectively crammed two Olympics together. The next Winter Games convenes in just six months in Beijing.