Japanese prime minister emerges from Mario pipe at Rio closing ceremony

Rio handed the Olympics off to Tokyo in dramatic fashion on Sunday.

Rio’s handing off of the Olympic Games to Tokyo was far from ceremonial on Sunday. 

Rio passed the torch to Tokyo at the closing ceremonies, and if the games are anything like the torch-passing ceremony, 2020 will be the best Olympics ever. 

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe made a surprise appearance and also reminded us of one of Japan’s greatest contributions to the world: Super Mario Bros.

It started with a video of Mario in the streets of Japan jumping down a pipe. At the other end, Abe emerged, dressed like Mario. 

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Vincent Thiand/AP

It’s too bad Los Angeles isn’t hosting until 2024. Otherwise we could have had Barack Obama acting as the ball from Pong.