The strangest Olympics have thrilled us like before

Olympism lives trapped within this duality. Everything surrounding the organization of the Games is questionable. Suspicions of corruption, economic and political interests, pressure. The Japanese have opposed the Games to the end, but in recent polls most citizens said the appointment should not have been held, but admit that the organizers have fared well enough. They have passed the test, but without being the exceptional appointment that the International Olympic Committee imagined when it entrusted the Japanese to organize it. The pandemic has changed everything, but it has not been able to prevent the Games from becoming a reality, although some athletes have not been able to be there because they have tested positive. On the last day of competition, the number of positives in the Olympic Village bubble was 480, with more than 600,000 pots made. “It has been shown that it could be done, that we can overcome it,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “You have given us the best gift, hope. You have inspired us and you have managed to unite millions of people around the sport. These will remain as the games of hope and solidarity,” he defended in the closing speech .

The closing ceremony, a little happier than the opening one, closes an Olympic cycle to give way to a shorter one, three years, until the Paris event, when some of the trends we have seen in Tokyo will be consolidated , how to see urban sports and young people climbing the podium who seem to have come out of the square in front of the Macba in Barcelona. New paths explored by an Olympism that knows it needs to be reshaped, though not changed at all, as when the Olympics arrive, athletics and swimming continue to be as exciting as ever. How can you not get excited about the dizzying pace of Eliud Kipchoge to win the marathon or the triple jump of Yulimar Rojas?

Doubts out of competition have given way to a lot of surprises. Partly because the pandemic changed the state of form and preparation of athletes, partly because some stars have been down and partly because while the United States and China are fighting to dominate the medal, states like India, Israel o Italy have worked very well and have surprised in sports such as athletics or gymnastics. In fact, 93 countries have won a medal, a record number. Some have debuted through the big door, like San Marino, with three medals.

The big surprise, however, came from Simone Biles, the gymnast who had to win it all and leaves with two medals, head gold. Now, he walks away with the recognition and respect of everyone after giving up much of the competition to focus on his mental health as he lost the ability to focus on the more complicated jumps. A legacy more important than records, because now we have to ask ourselves if it is worth destroying the youth of many athletes by making them pursue perfection as if the stability of an entire country depended on them.

The United States, humiliated in athletics, has won the medal with a certain bitter aftertaste. Florida swimmer Caeleb Dressel has become the new American hero, with five gold medals and an exciting world record as he came out to compete with the hair ribbon of a teacher who had died of cancer . Instead, despite the good performance of Katie Ledecky, in the pool the Australians have vindicated the glorious tradition of swimming in their country, with a lot of medals won by Kaylee McKeown, Ariarne Titmus and Emma McKeon.

In athletics, the big names have been the Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas in the triple jump, the Norwegian Karsten Warholm in the 400 meters hurdles, the Dutch Sifan Hassan (champion of the 5,000 and 10,000) and the Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah, queen of speed with her golds in the 100, 200 and 4×100. If seeing Jamaicans flying is not surprising, it has been a surprise the gold in the 100 meters of the Italian Marcel Jacobs, who put the icing on the cake with the gold in the 4×100. The eternal Allyson Felix, after being a mother, has won two medals and already has 11.

It has been an amazing Games, with the tears of joy of the Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade or the rage of the world number 1, Novak Djokovic, to run out of medals in tennis. The Games of the emotion of the cyclist Richard Carapaz when winning the gold and remembering the first bicycle that had, encounter between the scrap metal that its father picked up by the streets. The Games of the debut of the climbing, theskate and surfing, an audience hit. And a success of comments on social media. Good sign. Judo has also been followed, in the case of Japan, a discipline in which the brothers Hifumi and Uta Abe won gold on the same day. Never had two brothers won a medal each in different tests in the same Games, and they did so in just two hours. Japan, in fact, finished third in the medal table, with very good sports results thanks to youngsters like Nishiya Momiji, a skater of 13 years.

The Games in which more women have participated than ever before, although some are always there, such as the German Isabell Werth, who can already say that she has won gold in six different Games in the equestrian competition. And also the first transgender athlete, New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard.

In Tokyo, the Spanish sport, which was expecting the second best results in its history, has taken a step back in the medals, partly due to the loss of candidates to be champions. Just three golds, none of them from a Catalan athlete. The Catalan representation, in fact, has returned with magnificent performances by young people who are aiming for Paris, but with few medals. It’s not always about winning, of course. It is about competing and valuing the path that has been taken to reach an appointment that has been complicated. Many of the athletes who will always remember these days in Tokyo have trained locked up at home or lost relatives. And they have made their effort a positive example of how to face life. In the end, the years go by and Olympism, like sport in general, remains a great metaphor for our world. With the most emotional stories and also a lot of dirt hidden under the office mat. With athletes who make us scream like we’re little kids and others you can’t even see. Sports and designs will change, but that will surely remain the same. That’s why we like the Games so much.

Now, athletes have three years to prepare for the Paris event. The Olympic flag is already in the hands of the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who at the closing ceremony has given way to a live connection where different musicians played The Marseilles. Some at the Louvre, others at the Stade de France and a third at a space station. As always, the challenge is to make some amazing Games in the positive, waiting for the obstacles that may arise. The first, in fact, has already arrived, because they wanted to unfurl a giant flag from the Eiffel Tower and the wind did not allow it. Paris will have to overcome a few problems, until the appointment of 2024. But when the day of the inauguration arrives, the sport will continue to excite us. In spite of everything.