The curtain has fallen. This time, he won't get up again. Four weeks after the Tokyo Olympic Games, the flame was extinguished on Sunday September 5 at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Japan brought the end to a saga that began eight years earlier. Eight years during which the organizing committee has experienced everything, especially the worst: a dizzying inflation of costs, to the point of placing Tokyo 2020 at the forefront of the most expensive Summer Games in history; several corruption cases, one of which took with it the very respectable Tsunekazu Takeda, then president of the Japanese Olympic committee and member of the IOC; chain resignations, the most legendary of which will remain that of the president of the organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, dismissed from class for his sexist comments; a one-year postponement; competitions played behind closed doors.
With such a succession of slip-ups and bad luck, having stayed the course is a miracle. The Japanese held on. The IOC and IPC can thank them forever. Anywhere else, no doubt, the plug would have been unplugged and the lights turned off. The Olympic and Paralympic movement would have been put on a diet.
What should we remember from the Paralympic Games? As with their Olympic counterpart, they take place until the end, without a health disaster. In such a context, nothing was written in advance. On Saturday September 4, Japanese organizers revealed that the number of COVID-19 cases among accredited people had approached the 300 mark. It finally exceeded it, on the evening of the closing ceremony, but not by much. In total, around 850 cases have been recorded between the two events, Olympic then Paralympic, since July 1. In around ten weeks, with a population coming from all over the world, the result is nothing scandalous. It even turns out to be very encouraging.
For the rest, the lessons of the Paralympic meeting are numerous. Some will be worth pondering for the organizers of the Paris 2024 Games.
In the medal rankings, positions change little from one event to another. China crushed the competition, with 207 places on the podium (96 gold medals, 60 silver and 51 bronze). She took second place at the Olympic Games. Great Britain follows at a good distance, with 124 medals, including 41 gold. She was in 4th place four weeks earlier. The United States, ranked first at the Olympic Games, completes the podium (104 medals including 37 gold). Russia, even without a flag, anthem and colors, remains in its place: 4th at the Paralympic Games, one rank better than in the Olympic rankings.
Even without a single spectator in the stands, hosting at home remains a fantastic performance booster. At the 2016 Rio Games, Japan was left empty-handed, without a single Paralympic title in its baggage. This time, its delegation of 254 athletes, the largest in history, won 51 medals (13 gold, 15 silver and 23 bronze), its second best result at the Paralympic Games. The host country is 11th in the medal rankings.
Three years before the Paris 2024 Games, France has shown good progress, with 54 medals including 11 gold, and 14th place in the ranking. She will aim for at least 60 in three years at home, with the ambition of entering the Paralympic top 10.
With the Paralympic Games, Japan hoped to gain a few years on the issue of accessibility, while changing society's view of disability and disabled sports. According to the Japanese Ministry of Transport, the first bet could well have already been won. The number of so-called “universal design” taxis, capable of easily transporting wheelchair passengers, will account for a quarter of the fleet nationwide over the next five years. There were only a few hundred before Tokyo was chosen as the host city for the 2020 Games. The country had 21.700 at the end of 2019.
It is not certain, however, that the Paralympic Games will have a lasting effect on disabled sports in Japan. According to Kyodo News, the television coverage of the Tokyo Games by NHK turned out to be very unfair. Certainly, public television devoted 540 hours to the event, on its channels and streaming platforms, more than any other broadcaster, but it mainly showed athletics and swimming. Several Paralympic disciplines, including archery, taekwondo and powerlifting, have been completely ignored.
Finally, last lesson: having maintained the Tokyo Games despite the tenacious opposition of public opinion will cost Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga his place. The Japanese announced, even before the end of the Paralympic Games, his decision not to run for the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party, currently in power, during the internal vote scheduled for the end of September. He abandoned the place just one year after inheriting it.
