It is a fitting end to a surreal Games; a gilded cage for athletes and observers to reflect on a unique experience
![At the Tokyo Olympics I hid from the sun; now, in quarantine, I long for it | Kieran Pender](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/97afe18ad320b007cd4413af8002dd362ae1ea33/0_605_4032_2419/master/4032.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=8cd9dbefacf792de785d165408f2c151)
For the past three weeks, I cowered from the summer sun. The temperature during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics rarely dipped below 30C – the blazing heat and oppressive humidity was ever-present. Mercifully, most of the sports I covered were indoors (swimming, track cycling) or in the evening, once the sun had dipped (athletics, hockey). That meant my encounters were typically brief – waiting for a shuttle bus, navigating a maze of security checkpoints.
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