Written by Ali Grutchfield, Photograph courtesy of Olympic Press Package
The 2020/2021 Summer Olympics officially began with the opening ceremony in Tokyo, Japan on Friday, July 23 and the closing ceremony will occur on Sunday, August 8. The first events on the docket included baseball/softball, soccer, archery, rowing and artistic gymnastics. Here is the explanation of how this year’s Olympic Games have been conducted.
Like many other pandemic-postponed events, the Olympics were nothing like the typical experience, especially due to the lack of audience. There was much deliberation over how to have guests, at one point banning international audiences but possibly allowing Japanese citizens to attend. However, this plan was ultimately vetoed as Japan is still under a state of emergency with COVID-19. Luckily viewers were still able to tune in as the Olympics were available to stream on NBC Sports, CNBC, fuboTV and Peacock.
On a more positive note, there were four new sports being added to the Olympics including karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing. Similarly, baseball and softball have been reinstated to the Olympics after previously being removed in 2012. Some sports were also been expanded to include more competitions. For example, basketball now included a 3×3 competition and swimming had mixed-gender relays.
Many students were anxiously awaiting Simone Biles’ performance in artistic gymnastics, as she is one of the most decorated gymnasts with the possibility of continuing American success. During a recent practice session, Biles successfully landed a Yurchenko double pike vault, which is harder than any gymnast has ever attempted at the games. Should she choose to perform it and succeed, the move would most likely become her namesake.
As the games went on, however, Biles had to withdraw from some of the events to prioritize her mental health. In interviews, she explained that this year’s games were extremely stressful. It’d been a long week practicing and overall, Biles explained it as being a long year. With many variables contributing to the situation and the stress, Biles decided it was best to withdraw for her safety. Luckily, she was able to rejoin the final balance beam event taking home a bronze medal from it.
Although the Olympics rally international support and domestic celebration, the recent scandal regarding Becca Myers cannot go without mention. Myers is a deaf and blind paralympic swimmer who chose to withdraw from the Tokyo games because she was not allowed to have her aid with her. Maria Myers, Becca’s mother, has spent her daughter’s life learning how to care for her as well as support her athletic dreams. However, the strict Olympic codes to reduce COVID-19 transmission have limited the support of paralympic athletes to include one Personal Care Assistant assigned to the American team. Unfortunately, this assistant was trained predominantly for blind competitors, rather than someone who is blind and deaf like Becca.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee have stated their support for the Olympics choice of personal care assistant, however, Myers still chose to withdraw because her needs and desires were not being prioritized on a global stage. This was an important show of activism and when supporting the American Olympic teams and committees, SCAD students should be aware of the cost.
The Olympics are a rare occasion to celebrate one’s home country and see deserving athletes given a global stage to compete. However, when celebrating, it’s important to be mindful of people not being able to compete for reasons outside of their own ability. Other than in the cases of international war, the Olympics have never before been canceled. It’s a miracle that they are happening now at all.
