Rio bids emotional send-off to Olympics with stunning musical extravaganza 

Rio de Janeiro: Overcast condition and continuous drizzle failed to dampen the spirit and occasion as Rio de Janeiro gave an emotional send off to the athletes from all over the planet, who had made the 31st edition of the Olympic Games overwhelming success, at the iconic Maracana Stadium on Sunday night. The ceremony was splashed with boisterous celebrations, breathtaking fireworks, splendid Brazilian music and entertainment. Brazil surprised many a naysayers by staging a fairly spectacular games and the closing ceremony was exactly what the South American nation’s culture represents to the world and all that’s best in Brazil. Fifteen days of intense battle for medals, the joy of victory or the sorrow of defeat was put aside as athletes of the world let their hair down at the world’s biggest party arena. So, the Parade of Athletes into the Maracana was quite different from the one on August 5th. The loudest cheer besides the host country went to Team USA, who topped the medals list with more than a hundred medals and its contingent was led in by multiple gold winner gymnast Simone Biles.  Wrestler Sakhi Malik had the honour to lead the Indian contingent. For those packed into the Maracana, added joy was Brazil’s gold victory in soccer against Germany. What better gift than that for a football-crazy nation. If the opening ceremony was themed on hope and warning, Sunday’s function was pure Mardi Gras –performers, dancers putting on a spectacle that highlighted Brazilian culture. Considering that Brazil’s greatest carnival designer Rosa Magalhaes was behind the show, little wonder that Maracana was held spellbound. The closing ceremony was livened by the world famous Norwegian electronic tropical musician Kygo, who had lived with his family in Brazil. Kygo, a pop sensation, set the stadium on fire with his ‘Carry Me’ performed with vocalist Julia Michaels. The curtains came down on the games with three national anthems...that of Greece where it all began, the Brazilian ‘Hino Nacional Brasileiro’ and Japan’s ‘Kimigayo’. Japan also gave a video brief of what to expect in Tokyo in 2020. The ceremonies closed with IOC President Thomas Bach calling on all athletes to meet in four years at Tokyo and the symbolic handing over of the Olympic flag to Tokyo’s governor Yurio Koike. The most poignant moment, of course, was when the Olympic flame was extinguished bringing a hush in the stadium. The closing ceremony left a tinge of sorrow that 15 days of high performance sports was over. Brazil was where two of the world’s greatest sporting legends, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, whose feats will perhaps never ever be matched, performed for the last time in an Olympics. This historic city was where new sporting heroes for India, PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar made stunning Olympic debuts. Like most Olympics, Rio too had its glitches and controversies but on Sunday, Brazil could go to sleep content that it had pulled off the games quite spectacularly. Ole! to Rio de Janeiro.