A Word from the Editor
As Posted in an extended Notes post on DCNOW on Twitter (@DC408DxNow) after NBC's primetime presentation of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Closing Ceremony last night on Sunday, August 8th, for which DCBLOG posted this site's season preview of The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies shortly afterward.
And so, twenty days after it began, we have arrived at the end of our marathon.
The Olympic Games are my one & favorite sporting event — the one that puts my love affair with the whole sports world at large on display, as one who doesn’t like to settle with having being enamored with endless coverage of the same three sports. There’s nothing quite like having so much diversity of the events I love take over my attention for these three weeks from archery to yachting and everything in between. Nowhere is the true definition of an event that offers something for everyone is more valid than in this Olympic arena, and the addition of new sports have broadened its appeal to a new generation — reflective of its wholesome and inclusive nature.
It’s with that in mind that these were the first Olympics that I have gotten to fully enjoy all of it on my screens in addition to on TV. The premise that the financial disaster but bold experiment of the Olympic TripleCast had in 1992 laid true to me this time: watch what you want, when you want, and how you want from the comfort of your couch — and during a time where we’ve all been at home. And thanks to upgrading my technology and the streaming revolution we are in now, I’ve been able to watch at least part of every sport of these Games, and being able to watch them on here on this DCNOW Twitter hub each and every night of these Games — one of the first of these live reaction accounts & a running real-time feed of what’s been going on in Tokyo.
These Tokyo Olympics were the Games that, in many’s minds, shouldn’t happen, in the wake of everything going on in our world still going through a deadly pandemic. Long before it became part of our sporting landscape here at home, the Olympics have long been used to having everything being held in a bubble setting of sorts with all events along place in a central location in the host city & country. But remarkably amidst so much naysaying, the organizers managed to pull this thing all off… and while it remains to be seen what the final costs will be, every member of the Tokyo organizing committee, sport governing bodies and volunteers who gave their time to work this event can take pride in being able to bring this to all of us this safely.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable facts about this fortnight and in the biggest event to be held in these times: even with all of these many complexities — and with only a small handful of athletes having to withdraw despite a gradual spike in local cases during this month, not one single session of competition across the 41 different sports was lost due to an athlete returning a positive test — and the only delays or changes to the mammoth competition schedule of these games was due to Mother Nature. It was something that wasn’t even possible just a few months ago, but thanks to all these strict health protocols in place, we were all kept safe & sound, and that in itself is an amazing achievement.
But that doesn’t mean that things have been okay: controversies and logistics aside, what happened with Simone Biles and many other athletes here brought into focus the toll that both these Games, the past year and the five years of training has had on their mental health. Being away from family & friends, the pressure that comes when 4 billion people are watching, and competing in empty competition venues have put a different face and human personality to these people. And the chatter on this topic will continue long after these Games end when the athletes settle back into the real world and being people like us.
There’s a lot of things that define the modern Olympics and the world of high-performance sport that takes this spotlight only under the glow of a burning flame, national pride and the five rings. But in a world in need of a sense of inspiration, at its heart this event brings this divided world all together by the power of watching the world’s best and seeing endless moments that have made us cry, laugh and stare in awe. While we’ve sorely missed the presence of fans in the venues who would’ve filled the stands, their roars have been heard from half a world away, and thanks to the virtual technology that’s kept us all connected you can’t help but see the reactions from around the world of just how much the undeniable power of this event still resonates 125 years after it began — the ultimate celebration of the human spirit.
It’s been a blast, Tokyo… and it’s been a pleasure for me to translate my Olympic fandom to all of you here. And the nice thing about these Games being held a year later — in six months from now, we get to do this all over again in Beijing in the wintertime. Until then, ありがとう and so long.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
