Where the heart of the games beats slower

WITHwithout a doubt, the Japanese national stadium with its zen garden style is an eye-catcher. Among all the functional architectural dreams or quick-build blocks, the arena not far from the Meiji sanctuary is one of the few that exudes spirit, even something sublime. But the National Stadium, it’s not the heart of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The heart is also not the swimmers’ Aquatics Center or the sprawling Tokyo Big Sight, from where media images broadcast around the globe. No, it’s the Ariake ZeroBase: a slightly inconspicuous pop-up stand from the outside.

Children play here on artificial turf and between water games, while the constant wind drives Tokyo’s humid heat away. Brazilian forró exudes a chilled vibe between food trucks and a craft beer stand. At Pulled-Pork and Nihon-Cha, you can watch the Yurikamome elevated railway as it sluggishly and glistening in the sun. But the best: The ZeroBase is located in the middle of all the Paralympic and Olympic sports arenas! Less than three minutes walk and you are at the Ariake Taiso Kyougijo, the former Olympic gymnastics arena, where Lukas Dauser won silver on bars. At the Paralympics, where Felix Streng sprinted gold for Germany on Monday, things are a bit more leisurely, but no less exciting.

Boris Nicolai, for example, tries his last chance in boccia to make it to the quarter-finals. However, the rules are tough: only the group winner gets through, along with the two best runners-up in the group. Engineer Nicolai from Saarbrücken, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, needs a big win against his competitor Duban Cely. But the Colombian proves to be tough. And in the last round, Nicolai fails to push two well-positioned balls from the Colombian off the Pallino, which means defeat and thus the Paralympic end for Germany’s first athlete in boccia.

“Basketball is my life”

It’s less than seven minutes from Ariake Taiso Kyougijo to the next exciting point. In the Ariake Arena on the Ostwolken Canal, which is more unromantic than it sounds, the German wheelchair basketball players compete with Iran. And only the winner will advance to the quarter-finals. Germany controls the first three quarters. “Then Iran really pushed itself up. On the other hand, we had to stay calm, ”says builder Thomas Böhme.

But the German lead is noticeably melting, so that the team has to take a break. With only two points ahead and seven seconds on the clock, the German center Aliaksandr Halouski has free throws – but misses the first. “But I knew that he would take the second, he’s such a sure shooter,” said team-mate Böhme after the game in the mixed zone. Halouski transforms, Iran comes to the three-meter throw in the last second in the mix, but misses: Germany is in the quarter-finals. Böhme, top scorer in three out of five games, remains focused, but is clearly happy. “Because basketball, that’s my life.”

Back to ZeroBase, to ground yourself with a cold drink and a relaxed atmosphere – but also to talk to Ahmed from Yemen. “This is where all the people should come together. Japanese people and guests, everyone should be connected, ”says the manager of the pop-up mall. “With Corona and the ban on spectators, we lost a lot of money. Most of the customers dropped out. Japanese audience, that would have been correct. The atmosphere and income could have been so much better. ”In the background, a construction crane is already dismantling the Urban Sports Park, the venue for skating and BMX. Incidentally, the question arises: When will wheelchair action sports become Paralympic?