During the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics the host city always hands over the honour to the next host.  As Tokyo will be hosting the 2020 games they were there, as was Nintendo's mascot.

Mario appeared in a street scene in Tokyo alongside other famous Japanese characters before hopping in a warp pipe all the way to Rio.  Once out the other side he was replaced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe dressed as Mario.

The closing ceremony even featured Mario music and the warp pipe remained in the stadium during the handover.

Given the Mario & Sonic Olympics video game series it seems a fair bet the plumber will be making a few appearances at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in four years time, by which point the Mario series will be just shy of 40 years old!