Trend sports such as the three against three game on a basketball hoop should inspire young people – the arenas that are empty due to the pandemic prevent this.
Foto: imago images/Zhang Xiaoyu
One can only guess what euphoria there could be in Tokyo if the coronavirus hadn’t locked people out. The streets around the Olympic Stadium are lined with people waving to the passing buses. The Japanese take photos of the people who are allowed to enter the arena. You wish the journalists from all over the world a lot of fun, there will be short dialogues through the barricades. The 32nd modern Olympic Games are creating a previously unknown type of Olympic tourism – a bizarre situation. In front of the arenas, enthusiasts often meet demonstrating Olympic opponents who are less, but louder.
The Tokyo Games will (must) be remembered as those of the necessary imagination. People imagine being in the arenas, while the athletes imagine that they are being supported by at least millions of people around the world in front of televisions, tablets and smartphones. The 2021 Summer Games will largely take place in the imaginary.
The real concern is with the virus. In order to make the games as safe as possible, the organizers are making a gigantic effort. More than 25,000 people work as athletes, journalists or officials. Around half of them have to undergo a corona test every day, the rest every four days at the latest. Using a smartphone app, all participants must transmit data on their state of health on a daily basis. You are only allowed to move freely in Tokyo 14 days after entering the country, provided that no illness has occurred. Before entering an event location, the body temperature is also determined with a thermal imaging camera.
Police, security services and countless volunteers handle the security measures – the army of helpers is even larger than that of the participants. The “Olympic bubble” is supposed to be impermeable, but that does not work in all places, not every exit can be prevented. Journalists keep walking on public roads to get from the stops of the transport system to the sports facilities – and they meet children playing, catch a glimpse of normal life in the city. The app, in which it is stored whether and from when participants are allowed to move freely and, for example, use public transport, has a weakness. If installed incorrectly, you can move freely shortly after arrival. But only a few make use of this mistake, the majority are prudent with the special nature of these games. Everyone has been able to gain experience with the pandemic long enough, the discipline is great.
Behind the arena for sport climbing and the stadium where 3×3 basketball is played is the fan park. This is where the sponsors present themselves, but above all the spectators should have the opportunity to get themselves in the mood for celebration. The beach volleyball stadium is not far away. In these places the youthful heart could have beat for the Olympics. Tokyo and the games should be modern and enthusiastic – framed by groovy beats – here. The reality is different. The fan park is closed, the trend sports competitions take place without spectators in the stands. The colorful pictures that the International Olympic Committee wanted to use to advertise themselves around the world are not presented here. The pandemic prevented it.
Dusan Bulut regrets that, he describes it briefly as “shit”. But the circumstances that have restricted the world and Tokyo for a year and a half do not change the passion for competition. Bulut has won the World Cup four times with Serbia, the most important competition in 3×3 basketball. He is the superstar of his sport, has already achieved everything and has a few big advertising contracts in his pocket. His enthusiasm for the Olympics, despite the empty ranks, does not suffer. “This is the biggest tournament I’ve ever played,” says the 35-year-old. The first games of the tournament are now behind him, and his statements underline a fact that crystallized in the first few days. For the athletes, the attraction of the games has not suffered due to the external circumstances. They regret the lack of spectators and the restrictions on their freedom of movement, but they can still enjoy the competitions under the sign of the five rings.
In the first days of the Summer Olympics, Tokyo – after all a metropolis with just under 14 million inhabitants – is quiet. The city looks sleepy, the pulse almost seems to have died. But it is not as if people fled the Olympics or barricaded themselves in their own four walls. The government had set Navy Holiday and Sports Day on July 22nd and 23rd in commemoration of the 1964 Olympic Games, which were also held in Tokyo. Presumably so that this year’s edition could develop in peace. The metropolis already looked a bit more awake on Monday. The course of the competitions will hardly be influenced by the hustle and bustle, at most the Olympic transport system – when the traffic swells to its usual size.
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