As well as being a display of a country's sporting prowess, the Olympics also provide an opportunity for the host nation to show off its other cultural and historical achievements.
With the Olympics making their way to Tokyo in four years' time, it was Japan's turn to take the stage at the closing ceremony at the Rio Olympics to show off what it had to offer.
Naturally Japan couldn't let this happen without mentioning one of its most iconic fictional characters, Super Mario, aka Mario Mario, or simply, Mario.
Prime Minister Mario
But it wasn't just the case that the iconic character appeared on stage, instead the ceremony went one step further and had the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, dress up as Mario himself.
The transformation was introduced as part of a two minute video which showed off some of Japan's top athletes before introducing the Prime Minister, who transformed into Nintendo's mascot in order to make it to the ceremony in time.
Although Japan undoubtedly has some excellent sporting talent, it's nice to see the country embrace the enormous cultural impact that Nintendo has made on the world.
