They were the Olympic Games that were not supposed to happen.
The Olympic Games held under the cloud of a global pandemic.
The Olympic Games that were going to be a disaster.
Against all odds, they turned out to be the Olympic Games the world needed.
The Tokyo Games ended overnight with the closing ceremony that started at 11pm (NZ time).
Dame Valerie Adams, one of the great stories of the well-performed Kiwi team after winning her fourth medal at her fifth Olympics, was to have the honour of carrying the New Zealand flag at the ceremony.
There were any number of contenders — from kayaking triple gold medallist Lisa Carrington to rowing fairytale Emma Twigg, from sevens inspiration Sarah Hirini to cycling sensation Ellesse Andrews — but the choice of Adams, the spiritual leader of team Aotearoa, was a popular one.
New Zealand pocketed one more medal on Saturday, Lydia Ko adding a bronze to the silver she won in Rio in the women’s golf.
It took New Zealand’s final tally to 20 medals — seven gold, six silver and seven bronze — smashing the previous record of 18.
They might have been a temporary distraction from the challenges of Covid-19 but the Tokyo Olympics proved to be a remarkable success, in terms of both mitigating the challenges of the virus and in highlighting a new generation of elite athletes.
Ariarne Titmus became the new queen of the pool, Dutch sensation Sifan Hassan made middle-distance history, British diver Tom Daley warmed hearts (and inspired people to take up knitting), high jumpers proved you can be happy if you share a medal, and the great Simone Biles signalled a new attitude towards wellbeing and mental health in the elite sports arena.
For New Zealanders, Tokyo will be remembered as the Carrington Olympics. She was, in a word, special.
Olympic fans only have three years to wait for the Paris Games.
Hopefully, by then, Covid-19 is a distant memory.
