Wednesday, August 11, 2021

End of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

As of Sunday, the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics have ended.  After 17 days, the postponed summer games have come and gone in a blink of an eye.  I wasn't sure what to expect with the ongoing pandemic, but it's been a memorable two weeks!

Eliot and I have really enjoyed watching the olympic coverage in the background while we've been busy working on orders.  This year, we've even watched a little bit of some events that we've never seen before: equestrian, mountain biking, table tennis, archery and new additions like surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing.  We also tuned in to watch the usual televised summer sports: swimming, diving, track, beach volleyball, volleyball, artistic swimming and gymnastics.

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There have been a lot of memorable moments at these games and they started as soon as the world witnessed the Opening Ceremonies.  I was glad that they still had a performance for the ceremonies, even though the arena was mostly empty.

I was really excited that they still had plenty of athletes who walked in the Parade of Nations.  I was worried they might cancel it or limit the number of athletes allowed per country due to social distancing, so it was really nice to see all of them come out.

I also enjoyed The Rock's hype video introduction to the Team USA athletes.

I loved the performance of "Imagine" and I've looked everywhere for a video but I can't find a good one.  The drones all flying up in the air above the arena in the shape of the Earth was really cool though.  I thought it was a really beautiful moment.

I think Eliot's and my favorite part of the Opening Ceremonies were the pictograms! 

Of course, the Olympic Games themselves had some pretty memorable moments: 

There were plenty of awkward and funny moments during the Olympics.  The first one that comes to mind was when Australian Ariarne Titmus' swim coach went absolutely bonkers when Titmus won the women's 400m freestyle.  A cringeworthy moment was when the US men's basketball team got off to a rough start.  Thankfully, they course corrected, but for a bit, things weren't looking so hot.  I felt so bad for Canadian diver Pamela Ware.  She had to bail on her failed dive mid-air and scored a 0.0 on her pencil dive.  Finally, I loved the fun video of Great Britain diver Tom Daley sitting in the stands (during the women's dive competition) knitting a Union Jack pouch for his gold medal.

There were also plenty of displays of sportsmanship.  My favorite was when there was a tie for gold on the men's high-jump and the athletes from Italy and Qatar chose to share the podium and each get a gold medal rather than compete in a jump-off.

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Another moment that touched me was when the women swimming in the 200m breaststroke final all hugged South African Tatjana Schoenmaker after she won the gold medal and broke the world record.  She looked completely overwhelmed and stunned and both USA swimmers, Annie Lazor (bronze) and Lilly King (silver), and South African teammate Kaylene Corbett embraced her in a huge hug.

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I also really loved the show of support and togetherness with all of the skateboarding girls hugging after one of the girls skated at their park competition.  You could tell that they were all just so happy to be there showing everyone what they could do.

Another thing that really struck me was how loud Simone Biles was cheering everyone on.  She was encouraging her USA teammates as well as girls competing from other countries.  After the women's gymnastics team competition ended, Simone was also the first to hug all of the girls on the other teams as well.

There were also a lot of memorable moments with the pandemic and the athletes' families not able to attend the events.  I loved the idea of the watch parties being held all across the country and I really enjoyed seeing the reactions of the athletes' friends and family back home as they watched the events.  

However, I'm not sure how I felt about the post event interviews with the athletes and their family members.  A lot of the Olympians were understandably emotional after competing and seeing their family back home.  I felt like we were witnessing what should have been a private moment between them.  

USA swimmer Caeleb Dressel, his family and his wife Meghan were definitely the most memorable.  Seeing his wife and mother's reactions during his races were priceless, but I felt awful for him when he got to see them on the tv screen after winning the gold and he was overcome with emotion.  Conversely, in some cases it seemed to make the athletes feel better when they saw their families.  Simone Biles' selfie with her family back home on the tv was a special moment.  Hopefully, the athletes family and friends will never have to stay away from the Olympics ever again!

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The 17 days of Olympic Games flew right by and before I knew it it was time for the Closing Ceremony.  (Eliot and I weren't home during the broadcast, so I recorded it and finally watched it yesterday.)  I'd forgotten how the athletes all walk in together at the Closing Ceremony and I enjoyed watching them all file into the stadium together.

I loved how they used the athletes' phones to create the Olympic Rings.  However, it would have been so much cooler if there were people in the stands.  (Video here.)

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I also really enjoyed the video intro to the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Watch video here.)

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And you can't end the ceremony without fireworks!  I told Eliot that the Olympics seem to be the only thing close to competing with Disney's fireworks shows. (Video here.) 

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I'm always so sad watching the Closing Ceremony and when the Olympic Cauldron is finally extinguished.  I'm so thankful they were even able to have these games.  There were a lot of great moments and the Olympic spirit is alive and well.

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As a woman, I've really enjoyed all of the "girl power" moments at the 2020 Olympic Games.  I don't remember ever feeling so empowered as a woman watching the games.  It seems like there's been progress... but there's still a ways to go.  While it's sad that countries had to be told to have both a man and a woman carry their flag in the Parade of Nations, I'm glad they did it.  Women deserve to be recognized too.  In fact, there have been so many great moments for women that it's hard to remember them all.  Here are a few that I can think of right off the top of my head:

I enjoyed seeing Naomi Osaka as the person who lit the Olympic Cauldron.

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Hawaiian Carissa Moore won the gold medal in the first ever surfing event.

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Eliot and I both really enjoyed watching 17 year old Alaskan teen Lydia Jacoby win the gold in the 100m breaststroke.  Her classmates back home really went wild!

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We also enjoyed watching Katie Ledecky crush records and statistics.

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Another great moment was when Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin were facing off in the women's 400m hurdles final and they could be pitted against each other.  Instead, McLaughlin said that "iron sharpens iron" and that they only pushed each other to be better.  Then, they took gold and silver.

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Nevin Harrison won gold in the first ever 200m canoe sprint.

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The "A Team" of April Ross and Alix Klineman won gold in women's beach volleyball.

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Molly Seidel of Wisconsin earned the bronze competing in her third marathon.

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The US "Dream Team" of Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad, Athing Mu and Allyson Felix won gold in the women's 4x400m relay.

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Finally, I was overjoyed watching the US women's volleyball team sweep Brazil to win the gold medal.  I used to play volleyball in high school so it's always my favorite sport to watch during the summer Olympics.  I know how long these women have wanted to win the gold and it was so much fun watching them win it live.

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I'm also proud of the women who stood up about the sexist uniforms that they're forced to wear in many of the sports.  The German gymnastics team wore unitards that went down to their ankles.  Then, the Norway women's beach handball team were actually fined for not wearing bikini bottoms and opting for shorts.  After, there was an outcry on social media and singer Pink even offered to pay their fine.

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My favorite part of the Tokyo 2020 games has been watching the Team USA Women's Gymnastics Team.  It's been a bit of a rollercoaster, but I'm so proud of these ladies.


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I'm not sure I remember another Olympics where I was as invested in the outcome of all the women's gymnastics events.  Not only did the members of the US women's team step up to the plate when they needed to, but they also won silver.  Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum and Suni Lee were spectacular competing in events that they weren't supposed to for the team competition.  I was so proud of all of them and proud of Simone for doing what she needed to do in order to take care of herself.

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Although I was sad that Simone had to pull out of other events, because she did, MyKayla Skinner was able to compete and win the silver in vault.  I also enjoyed watching Jade Carey compete and win the gold in the floor exercise.  And Suni Lee was incredible!  I actually got up early and watched the women's all around competition live and I definitely teared up seeing Suni win the gold medal.

They all attacked their events with precision and skill... and all six women are bringing home medals.  I am so proud of all of them for never giving up on themselves and each other, even when things might have looked grim.

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I'm also so proud of Simone Biles.  I won't get into it again since I've already written a whole post about it... but I'm so proud to have her on our team.  I'm also so happy for her that she was able to compete in beam after she had to pull out of all of the other individual events.  That bronze medal was well deserved.  But more importantly, I'm always going to remember her smile when she landed on the mat and how happy she was after competing in that event for no-one but herself.  She's an inspiration!!!  

Finally, I'm incredibly proud of Team USA and all of their accomplishments!  I watched so many American athletes crush world records, Olympic records and some even beat their previous records.  It always amazes me how people can keep beating the best times.  Our athletes also brought home some serious hardware with the final medal count for the US at 39 gold, 41 silver and 33 bronze medals. 

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The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have certainly been memorable.  I had been worried they wouldn't feel the "same" without fans and with all of the COVID protocols, but they still had the same Olympic spirit.  Thank you to the 11,000 athletes from 206 countries across the world for coming together in this show of sportsmanship and togetherness.

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While the coronavirus pandemic certainly isn't over, the past 16 days of these Olympic Games have given me hope that the world can come together to defeat this.

Congratulations to all of the athletes who competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. You faced some of the hardest circumstances to get there, but you did it!  

And to me, you're all winners.  °o°o° 

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