Japan lauds Olympic, Paralympic athletes at Tokyo parade

Tokyo, Oct 7: Japan cheered Olympic and Paralympic medallists on Friday with a parade through the capital city, attended by thousands of supporters cheering on the 87 athletes, who in total took home 41 medals -- 12 gold, 8 silver and 21 bronze -- from the Rio Games held from August 5 to 21.

Some 800,000 people thronged the streets of the Japanese capital to cheer for the medallists, who waved from open-top buses. The parade rolled off in southern Tokyo's Toranomon district and weaved its way along a 2.5-km stretch through Ginza before arriving in the central Nihombashi area, reports Efe.

"It's a chance to thank the athletes and it gives the Japanese people strength and energy," said spectator Eri Ogane, 47, as cited by the Japan Times newspaper.

Japan's medals at the Olympic Games were higher this year than ever before, according to the Japanese Olympic Committee, which notes that in London in 2012, the East Asian nation took home 38 medals.

When medals are ranked in accordance with population and GDP, Japan came in sixth place globally for the gold and has 3.493 medals per million population, scoring highest in artistic gymnastics followed by wrestling and judo, according to the count by sports analytics site PointAfter.