Tokyo Olympics: Athletes gave Games great soul, says IOC president Thomas Bach
- Published
Bach meets American gymnast Simone Biles during Tokyo 2020
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach says he feared a Tokyo 2020 "without soul" - but that the Games have exceeded expectations.
A state of emergency in Japan's capital has been in place throughout the Games because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Events at venues in and around Tokyo have also been held without fans, while overseas supporters have not been allowed to attend.
"The athletes gave these Olympic Games a great Olympic soul," said Bach.
"I have to admit that I was myself personally concerned that Tokyo 2020 could become a Games without soul. Fortunately, what we have seen here is totally different.
"What I experienced was that the atmosphere has been more intense that ever before.
"There were, among the athletes, two dominant feelings. The first was that you could experience and feel and see and hear how much they enjoyed being together.
"The other feeling that has been expressed, in all the many conversations, is that they were extremely grateful for the fact the Olympic Games could happen.
"This feeling, this atmosphere was spreading from the village to the venues - you could see how they were supporting each other."
The Olympics and Paralympics were postponed for a year in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time since the modern Olympics began in 1896 that they have been delayed.
Bach previously said "there were sleepless nights" over the rescheduling of Tokyo 2020, although cancellation "was never an option".
"I never had any doubt about the preparedness of Japan - I always said Tokyo was the best ever prepared Olympics city," said Bach.
"The friendliness was exemplary, transportation was flawless. All of this was following my expectations, but then there were two factors of my expectations that have been exceeded: The efficiency of the anti-Covid measures and the soul of the games given by the athletes.
"In many cases, you did not realise that there were no spectators and, in some cases, you could experience the feeling of the athletes even better than when surrounded by spectators.
"The focus was always on sports and athletes and less by the reaction by the public or anybody else."
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