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Andrew Alderson: 2020 Olympics our strongest ever performance - Early Edition on Newstalk ZB
Early Edition on Newstalk ZB
It began with a virus and a yearlong pause. It ended with a typhoon blowing through and, still, a virus. In between: just about everything.
The Tokyo Olympics, christened with "2020" but held in mid-2021 after being interrupted for a year by the coronavirus, glided to their conclusion in a COVID-emptied stadium Sunday night as an often surreal mixed bag for Japan and for the world.
A rollicking closing ceremony with the theme "Worlds We Share" — an optimistic but ironic notion at this human moment — featured everything from stunt bikes to intricate light shows as it tried to convey a "celebratory and liberating atmosphere" for athletes after a tense two weeks. It pivoted to a live feed from Paris, host of the 2024 Olympics. And with that, the strangest Olympic Games on record closed their books for good.
Held in the middle of a resurging pandemic, rejected by many Japanese and plagued by months of administrative problems, these Games presented logistical and medical obstacles like no other, offered up serious conversations about mental health — and, when it came to sport, delivered both triumphs and a few surprising shortfalls.
Athletes lie on the field during International Olympic Committee's President Thomas Bach speech during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Photo / AP
From the outset, expectations were middling at best, apocalyptic at worst. Even Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said he'd worried that these could "become the Olympic Games without a soul." But, he said, "what we have seen here is totally different."
"You were faster, you went higher, you were stronger because we all stood together — in solidarity," Bach told gathered Olympians as he closed the Games. "This was even more remarkable given the many challenges you had to face because of the pandemic. In these difficult times, you give the world the most precious of gifts: hope."
"For the first time since the pandemic began," he said, "the entire world came together."
He overstated it a bit. At these Games, even the word "together" was fraught. Spectators were kept at bay. A patchwork of rules kept athletes masked and apart for much of medal ceremonies, yet saw them swapping bodily fluids in some venues. That was less about being remiss than about being real: Risks that could be mitigated were, but at the same time events had to go on.
Athletes' perseverance became a central story. Mental health claimed bandwidth as never before, and athletes revealed their stories and struggles in vulnerable, sometimes excruciating fashion.
Japan's fourth Olympics, held 57 years after the 1964 Games reintroduced the country after its World War II defeat, represented a planet trying to come together at a moment in history when disease and circumstance and politics had splintered it apart.
Volunteers stand as International Olympic Committee's President Thomas Bach gives a speech during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Olympics. Photo / AP
The closing ceremony Sunday reflected that — and, at times, nudged the proceedings toward a sci-fi flavour. As athletes stood in the arena for the final pomp, digital scoreboards at either end of the stadium featured what organizers called a "fan video matrix," a Zoom call-like screen of videos uploaded by spectators showing themselves cheering at home.
Even the parade of athletes carrying national flags — thousands of Olympians, masked and unmasked, clustering together before fanning out into the world again — was affected. Volunteers carried some flags into the stadium, presumably because of rules requiring athletes to leave the country shortly after their events concluded.
In front of such formidable backdrops, athletic excellence burst through, from the Games' first gold medal (China's Yang Qian in the 10-meter air rifle on July 24) to their last (Serbia defeating...
The Tokyo Olympics, christened with "2020" but held in mid-2021 after being interrupted for a year by the coronavirus, glided to their conclusion in a COVID-emptied stadium Sunday night as an often surreal mixed bag for Japan and for the world.
A rollicking closing ceremony with the theme "Worlds We Share" — an optimistic but ironic notion at this human moment — featured everything from stunt bikes to intricate light shows as it tried to convey a "celebratory and liberating atmosphere" for athletes after a tense two weeks. It pivoted to a live feed from Paris, host of the 2024 Olympics. And with that, the strangest Olympic Games on record closed their books for good.
Held in the middle of a resurging pandemic, rejected by many Japanese and plagued by months of administrative problems, these Games presented logistical and medical obstacles like no other, offered up serious conversations about mental health — and, when it came to sport, delivered both triumphs and a few surprising shortfalls.
Athletes lie on the field during International Olympic Committee's President Thomas Bach speech during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Photo / AP
From the outset, expectations were middling at best, apocalyptic at worst. Even Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said he'd worried that these could "become the Olympic Games without a soul." But, he said, "what we have seen here is totally different."
"You were faster, you went higher, you were stronger because we all stood together — in solidarity," Bach told gathered Olympians as he closed the Games. "This was even more remarkable given the many challenges you had to face because of the pandemic. In these difficult times, you give the world the most precious of gifts: hope."
"For the first time since the pandemic began," he said, "the entire world came together."
He overstated it a bit. At these Games, even the word "together" was fraught. Spectators were kept at bay. A patchwork of rules kept athletes masked and apart for much of medal ceremonies, yet saw them swapping bodily fluids in some venues. That was less about being remiss than about being real: Risks that could be mitigated were, but at the same time events had to go on.
Athletes' perseverance became a central story. Mental health claimed bandwidth as never before, and athletes revealed their stories and struggles in vulnerable, sometimes excruciating fashion.
Japan's fourth Olympics, held 57 years after the 1964 Games reintroduced the country after its World War II defeat, represented a planet trying to come together at a moment in history when disease and circumstance and politics had splintered it apart.
Volunteers stand as International Olympic Committee's President Thomas Bach gives a speech during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Olympics. Photo / AP
The closing ceremony Sunday reflected that — and, at times, nudged the proceedings toward a sci-fi flavour. As athletes stood in the arena for the final pomp, digital scoreboards at either end of the stadium featured what organizers called a "fan video matrix," a Zoom call-like screen of videos uploaded by spectators showing themselves cheering at home.
Even the parade of athletes carrying national flags — thousands of Olympians, masked and unmasked, clustering together before fanning out into the world again — was affected. Volunteers carried some flags into the stadium, presumably because of rules requiring athletes to leave the country shortly after their events concluded.
In front of such formidable backdrops, athletic excellence burst through, from the Games' first gold medal (China's Yang Qian in the 10-meter air rifle on July 24) to their last (Serbia defeating...
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