Tokyo Olympics 2020: Outside the Olympic Stadium, a watch party on the road for Closing Ceremony fireworks-Sports News , Firstpost

Locals click picture of Olympic stadium in Tokyo ahead of closing ceremony. Amit Kamath

Tokyo: On Sunday evening, Santosh Mhaiskar and his family decided to go out for a quiet family outing in Tokyo. They could have chosen one of the several hundred restaurants dotting the city, or could have gone to a movie. Instead, they, along with family friends of theirs, chose to go stand outside the Olympic Stadium where the Tokyo 2020 Olympics’ Closing Ceremony was going to be held.

The Mhaiskars — husband, wife and a kid in stroller — were not the only one. Hundreds of Tokyo residents lined up on the street adjacent to the Olympic Stadium for hours before the Closing Ceremony to get a view of the fireworks for the ceremony. For many Tokyo residents, it would be the closest they have gotten to the Olympics, the world’s greatest party to which they’re the hosts.

On 8 July, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, in agreement with the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government, had decided to ban local fans from stadiums due to the escalating COVID-19 situation. A decision to ban international fans had been taken weeks before that. The only people in attendance in most venues were journalists or Games-related participants like athletes from other sports or officials.

Locals in Tokyo lined up outside the Olympic stadium in Tokyo to see the glimpses of closing ceremony. Amit Kamath

“We’ve been here for an hour now, only to book ourself this standing spot,” Santosh told Firstpost just over an hour before the ceremony was to start at the Olympics Stadium. The ceremony started at 8 pm (Japan Standard Time), and continued till 10 pm in humid conditions. The Mhaiskars, who moved to Tokyo from Pune three years ago, had read in the newspapers that there would be a grand firework display for the Closing Ceremony.

Faiz Hamid, an Eritrean student who has enrolled in an international studies course in Tokyo, also was one of the thousands standing with the throng of people politely gazing heavenwards. A majority of them had their cell phone cameras pointed at the stadium. Some even mounted their cameras on tripods to capture the scene for posterity.

“None of us is getting into the stadium. But this is not a bad spot to watch some fireworks,” he said as he stood next to a konbini (convenience) store which was selling water and local delicacies to those standing. Some used the occasion to dress up, women wearing the traditional kimono blending effortlessly with someone who had turned up wearing a Superwoman costume and one man decked up in Argentina colours. In terraces of buildings facing the Olympic Stadium, people were spotted lounging.

Similar scenes were seen outside the stadium during the Opening Ceremony on 23 July, when a lot of locals stood outside the Tokyo Olympic Museum, which shares a boundary wall with the Olympic Stadium, to watch the fireworks.

Locals in Tokyo lined up outside the Olympic stadium in Tokyo to see the glimpses of closing ceremony. Amit Kamath

Before the Games began, stories of local not wanting the Games to go ahead dominated the global narrative. There was report after report of media polls, where locals were voting heavily against hosting the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic. But as the Games started, the din grew quieter. It also helped that host country Japan won 58 medals (27 golds, 14 silvers, 17 bronze). They finished third in the overall standings, only behind USA and China, thanks to a record medal haul. At Rio, Japan had just 12 golds.

“You, the Japanese people, can be extremely proud of what you have achieved,” IOC President Thomas Bach told locals who had tuned into to watch the ceremony at their homes.

An hour after the Olympic flame was extinguished, and the Games were officially declared closed by Bach, many of the local volunteers, all of whom have tirelessly worked to pull off the Games without any hitches, assembled on the hallowed turf of the Olympic Stadium, getting themselves clicked in silly poses. They’re some of the chosen few locals who have been inside stadia during the Games, and understandably wanted to remember the moment.

Other volunteers, meanwhile, still hung around by the media tribune, helping clean up and get the stadium for the next challenge: hosting the Paralympics in just two weeks’ time.