RIO DE JANEIRO: As the curtains fell on Rio 2016, the next host for the Olympic Games in 2020 - Tokyo - announced itself to the world in style.
And it came in the form of none other than the world’s favourite video game plumber, Super Mario.
The character was played at the Rio Olympics closing ceremony by none other than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who sportingly donned Mario’s familiar red and blue plumber overall, complete with the red cap.
Traditionally, each upcoming host country would showcase a teaser video at the closing ceremony of the Games. Tokyo’s video featured its most famous and beloved characters including Hello Kitty and Doraemon.
However, the video appeared to be cut off, with a clip then showing Abe saying that he won’t be able to make it to the Rio Olympics closing ceremony.
The next scene then shows Abe transforming into Mario, and with a little help from Doraemon, jumps into the game’s green pipe to travel all the way to Rio.
At the heart of the Maracana, thousands of fans erupted into cheers as ‘Super Mario’ appeared from a life-size green pipe, shedding his costume to reveal Abe underneath.
Abe, clutching a red ball symbolising the Japanese flag and Tokyo’s next status as host of the Olympics.
The little scene captured the hearts of TV commentators, one of whom remarked: “Wow, Shinzo Abe is Mario. I never knew!”
