Paralympic Closing Marks End of Tokyo's 8-Year Olympic Saga
Voice of America
TOKYO - The final act of the delayed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics came Sunday, almost eight years to the day after the Japanese capital was awarded the Games.
The Paralympics ended a 13-day run in a colorful, circus-like ceremony at the National Stadium overseen by Crown Prince Akishino, the brother of Emperor Naruhito. The Olympics closed almost a month ago. These were unprecedented Olympics and Paralympics, postponed for a year and marked by footnotes and asterisks. No fans were allowed during the Olympics, except for a few thousand at outlying venues away from Tokyo. A few thousand school children were allowed into some Paralympic venues. "There were many times when we thought these games could not happen," Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, said on Sunday. "There were many sleepless nights."
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