Olympics Closing Ceremony 2021: How to Watch the End of Tokyo Games 2020 Live
The Olympics this year have been unique and surreal, since they are the first games held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Athletes have been vying for medals without having crowds to cheer them on indoors and in stadiums. There have been multiple controversies but also some moments of brilliance, showcasing the world's best athletes.
The games are now hitting their stride, with Team USA winning a number of notable gold medals, including in swimming, shooting, 3x3 baseball, fencing and surfing.
The end of the Tokyo Olympics this year will fall on August 8 and it can be streamed on a number of platforms.
Olympic Closing Ceremony Time
The closing ceremony will air at 8 p.m. to 10. p.m. local time (7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time) in Tokyo, Japan.
How to Watch Live
The closing ceremony will be broadcast live on NBC and shared live on the NBC Sports app and the NBC Olympics website. There is a full schedule of additional broadcasts of the event on NBC's website.
How to Stream
This has been the most widely televised Olympic games, and unsurprisingly, there are multiple cordless options for people wanting to watch the finale. These include streaming services fuboTV and Peacock, the NBC Sports app and the NBC Olympics website, where you can replay multiple events from the games.
Catch Up
For those who don't want to get up early and watch the ceremony, it will be re-broadcast Sunday night (August 8) on NBC on primetime TV, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET.
What to Expect
As with all Olympic closing ceremonies, the event will begin with a welcome to the (TV) audience and the host country's national anthem, according to the official Olympic website.
Then, there will be the entry of all the other nations' flags. A parade of athletes is scheduled to follow but it is unclear if this will be the case due to potential COVID restrictions. There will also be a lowering of the Olympic flag and a flag handover ceremony to the next host city, Paris, which will see Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike pass the flag to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, who in turn will hand it to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris. There will be an artistic segment on Japan as well as a spectacle to showcase the culture and history of the next host of the 2024 Summer Olympics—Paris, France.
Finally, there will be closing speeches from the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games president and International Olympic Committee president, before the famous extinguishing of the Olympic flame to indicate that the games are over.
"Worlds We Share" is the theme of the closing ceremony and the official website explains that the concept "expresses the idea that each of us inhabits their own world".
"The Games have and will provide us with food for thought about diversity and inclusion as we continue on to the Paralympic Games," the site states.
"Even if we cannot be together, we can share the same moment, and that is something that we will never forget. It is this salient message which we believe will create a Closing Ceremony that will open the door to a brighter future.
The closing ceremony will have a distinct lack of fanfare due to the COVID-19 restrictions that have prohibited spectators from being in the stadium.
