Rio Closing Ceremony Finishes With Stunning Suspension Of Pat Hickey In A Cage Over Stadium

A SUCCESSFUL Olympic Games came to a stunning conclusion last night in the Maracana stadium as teams gathered to enjoy the closing ceremony in Rio.

While impressive firework displays are part and parcel of such ceremonies these days, the Rio games organisers had one surprise up their sleeve for the international audiences watching from around the world.

A blinding spotlight, ushering people’s attention skyward beamed towards the roof of the stadium where a tired looking Pat Hickey was lowered from the rooftop in a cage, in a tribute the Brazilian authorities’ zero tolerance policy on wrongdoing during the three weeks the Olympics were being held in Rio.

“A delight, a vista of stunning imagination, a ceremony very much cast from a mould befitting modern Olympic times,” mused the New York Times review of the closing ceremony, illustrating just what a triumph these games had been in many respects.

Hickey for his part looked a reluctant participant in the carnival atmosphere taking place below his reinforced steel cage, with many people on Twitter criticising the fact he wasn’t dancing and his choice not to wear a dressing gown also drew considerable ire.

The Olympics had been dogged with accusations of clean athletes competing fairly to win medals while being surrounded by brazen positivity, however, the closing ceremony acknowledged that this wasn’t the dominant theme of the 2016 Games.