The Olympics Ended With A Stunning Light Show And A Moth That Took Over Twitter
Plus, a sax solo that was literally out of this world.
After countless setbacks, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics have run their course. Now that all the medals have been handed out, it’s time to wrap things up with another good, old-fashioned ceremony. Viewers clearly had lots of thoughts up until the end, as evidenced by these tweets about the Olympics closing ceremony.
For a while, it seemed like this year’s Summer Games were never going to happen. Originally slated for 2020, they were pushed back a year amid the coronavirus pandemic. Even as they finally moved forward in 2021, the Olympics were heavily scrutinized around the world because of COVID-related issues in Japan ranging from a low national vaccination rate (just over 13.4% of its entire population) to a recent state of emergency in Tokyo. But they pressed on, leading to iconic moments like Tom Daley knitting in the stands and an important discussion about prioritizing mental health thanks to Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka.
The closing ceremony took place on August 8, and as is the case with any live event, certain elements really drew viewers’ attention. A peek at Twitter revealed the stars of the ceremony, starting with an impressive lights show that coalesced into the giant, luminous Olympic rings.
In a surprising turn of events, the closing ceremony even took a trip to outer space! At one point, the event cut to French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who performed a saxophone solo of the French national anthem to celebrate Paris hosting the 2024 Summer Games.
Honestly, the true star of the closing ceremony arguably wasn’t a human at all — it was a moth! While President of the Olympic Games Hashimoto Seiko thanked the athletes, the insect was spotted hovering around the Olympic symbol on the podium. Twitter users began debating whether it was a moth or cicada, and footage of a man trying to swat the bug away off-camera even went viral.
Until next time, Olympics Twitter!
