When do the Games end? Closing ceremony and must-watch final events
The Tokyo Olympics finish on Sunday with the closing ceremony, but there is still plenty to watch between now and then.
When do the Games officially end?
The official end of the Games comes when Tokyo extinguishes the Olympic flame that has been burning in the cauldron since the opening ceremony and passes the Olympic flag to the hosts of the next Summer Olympiad, Paris. This usually comes at the end of the closing ceremony. Expect the show to be a more modest affair than the opening, which was already more modest this year than in previous Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the events left to run?
Saturday, August 7
– Cheer on Sinead Diver, Ellie Pashley and Lisa Weightman in the final of the women’s marathon in Sapporo from 9am AEST
– High jump queen Nicola McDermott will jump for gold at 8.35pm AEST. McDermott is Australia’s only woman high jumper to jump higher than two metres with a personal best of 2.1 metres
– The Boomers will take on Slovenia at 9pm AEST in the men’s bronze-medal basketball match
– Ed Fernon will represent Australia in the men’s pentathlon at 3.30pm AEST
– Brazil and Spain battle for gold in the final of the men’s football at 9:30pm
– At 10.40pm AEST tune in to watch Oli Hoare and Stewart McSweyn vie for gold in the men’s 1500m
Sunday, August 8
The men’s marathon final is on from 9am AEST; the women’s basketball gold-medal game starts at 1:30pm AEST, the men’s boxing final for 57-63kg is at 4.15pm AEST, and for the super heavy at 5.15pm AEST (Uzbekistan v USA).
In cycling, the men’s and women’s quarter, semis and finals of sprint, keirin, omnium are on from 12pm AEST; also the medal matches for group all-around gymnastics from then.
When is the closing ceremony?
The closing ceremony will be held on Sunday, August 8, from 9pm-midnight AEST (8pm to approximately 11pm Tokyo time).
It will begin with the men’s marathon victory celebration at 9pm AEST, followed by the women’s marathon victory celebration at 9.10pm.
While the theme for the opening ceremony was “United by Emotion”, the closing will be based on the “Worlds we Share”. Organisers are promising to leave us with “food for thought about diversity and inclusion as we continue to the Paralympic Games”.
In a preview of the ceremony, they say “We hope that this ceremony may be a moment for each and every one of us to think about what the future holds”.
The Tokyo Organising Committee’s all-inclusive program for the Olympics and Paralympic ceremonies come in four acts, meaning the opening and closing of each of the Games. As such, the closing of the Olympics will be designed to not only celebrate the efforts of the athletes in the first 17 days of Games, but also “carry over the excitement and exhilaration to the Paralympics”.
When is the Paralympics?
The 2020 Summer Paralympics will begin on Tuesday, August 24 and end on Sunday, September 5.
The Paralympic Games will be broadcast live on free-to-air across the Seven Network, and on 7Plus for subscribers.
The Australian Paralympic Team suggests you also bookmark their website to catch all the news on athletes and schedules.
Source: smh.com.au
