Paralympic closing marks end of Tokyo’s 8-year Olympic saga

By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Paralympics have closed to end a saga that began eight years ago when the Japanese capital was named the host city by the International Olympic Committee. The Paralympics ended a 13-day run in a circus-like ceremony at the National Stadium overseen by Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino, the brother of Emperor Naruhito. The Olympics closed almost a month ago. These were unprecedented Olympics and Paralympics, postponed for a year and marked by footnotes, asterisks, and no fans, except for a few outlying venues away from Tokyo during the Olympics, and a few thousand school children who were allowed into Paralympic venues.