A tropical storm was scheduled to sweep into Tokyo on the final day of the Olympics on Sunday, only to weaken shortly prior to landfall and fail to flood the capital city with the full extent of its expected deluge.
Consequently, the closing ceremony unfurled on a dry and still night amid a pleasant 27 degrees celsius, shorn of the humidity that had clogged so much of the outdoor action over the preceding fortnight and made it officially the hottest in history.
In more ways than one, Tokyo can truly claim to be the Games that got away with it.
In its own way, Biles’ recovery to claim bronze on the beam mattered as much as the four gold medals with which she swept the board in Rio; just as Dina Asher-Smith’s comeback to win relay silver after the heartache of withdrawing from the 200 metres underscored her desire to compete for the love of the sport.
It was entirely correct of Team GB’s Chef de Mission Mark England, speaking at the team’s final media debrief, to momentarily deflect attention from the record-holders to note the bronze medals won by the likes of Bryony Page and the 16-year-old Gadirova twins.
Such opportunities were even more evident amid the steaming bowl of the Ariake skate park, where the colour of the medals scarcely seemed to matter. Inspiration comes in many shapes and sizes: in Tokyo it scooted along with a shrug and a smile.
Tokyo was a Games that lived on the edge: of pandemics and tropical storms. Yet it provided a glimpse of a future in which winning is not quite everything, and runners-up and also-rans can be equally acclaimed.
If the Olympic movement takes heed and blows the right course towards Paris, if it continues to put inclusivity at its epicentre, then the legacy of two hot and bothersome weeks in Tokyo could yet prove to have been truly Games-changing.
