Did you know what Tokyo 2020 expects to achieve in a pandemic scenario?
The ancient Olympic Games
The ancient Olympic Games were originally a part of a religious festival in honor of Zeus, father of the Greek gods. They took place in Olympia, a rural city in the western Peloponnesus.
This festival includes sport and artistic activities. Artistic competitors performed oratory music and theater.
In the sports activities, Athletes were all male, and nudity was a tradition for the contestants.
People from all over Greece attend the celebration, and the Greek community covered regions from Spain to Turkey.
The ancient Olympic Games took place from 776BC through 393AD when they were abolished in the Cristian era.
Modern Olympic Games
In 1894, French Baron Pierre de Coubertin brought the idea to take the ancient tradition. As a result, in 1896 Olympic Games were celebrated in Athens, Greece. 33 countries competed in weightlifting, shooting, swimming, cycling, wrestling, fencing, lawn tennis, gymnastics, and other sports.
Since then, Olympic Games occur every four years except during World War I and World War II.
Unfortunately, Tokyo 2020 had to postpone a year due to the pandemic.
In 1942, the winter Olympics was included as a separate competition of cold-weather sports in the same year as the summer Olympic Games.
The first Winter Olympics were held in 1980 in Chamonix, France. The competition includes biathlon, ice hockey, figure skating, among other winter sports.
Also, in 1948, the British physician Sir Ludwing Guttmann, organized an archery competition at a hospital for injured veterans of World War II as part of their rehabilitation program.
In 1952 became an international competition, and since 1960 they have been held every four years in the same host country as the Olympic Games.
Olympic Flag
Olympic symbols are five color rings: blue, yellow, black, and red interlacing rings, designed in 1913 for Baron Pierre de Coubertin, to represent the world’s five continents.
The games are governed by an International Olympic Committee, which headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.
According to the language country hosting, the country Delegations appearance in the parade of the opening celebration is in alphabetical order.
Modern Olympic Flame
The Olympic Flame represents the light of spirit, knowledge, and life; Passing the Flame from one person to another expresses the handing down of this symbol to generation from generation.
The Olympic Flame was first instituted in 1936 at the Olympic Games in Berlin, with a previous ceremony in Olympia, Greece, every four years, for the lighting of the Olympic Games Flame Ceremony.
The lighted Flame is carried along by several athletes to the Opening Ceremony spot in the country where the Olympic Games occur.
In 1968 the XIX Olympiad took place in Mexico. In Tokyo is the second occasion. The first one was in 1964. In Tokyo 220, 20 athletes from Jalisco are part of the Mexican Delegation.
Tokyo 2020
Summer Tokyo Olympic Games started on July 23 until August 9, with 33 sports features equestrian art, basketball, field hockey, Water polo, weightlifting, cycling, canoeing and kayaking, gymnastics, pentathlon, shooting, soccer, swimming, diving, tennis, volleyball, table tennis, handball, boxing, water polo, yachting, baseball, martial arts, among others.
This year Paralympic Games will take place from August 24 to September 5. The competition includes 22 sports such as shooting, sitting volleyball, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, fencing, rugby, and tennis.
For the second time since Brazil 2016, there is an Olympic delegation of refugees participating under the Olympic Flag.
Unfortunately, last year’s cancellation of the Olympic Games was not enough due to the unexpected emergence of variants of the Covid-19 virus.
For the first time in history, spectators were kept away in Tokyo. There is a robust health protocol designed especially for country delegations and organizers attending the event.
The opening ceremony was attended by Japan´s Emperor Naruhito and included Japanese culture and history performances.
There were also tributes to Covid-19 and the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics victims.
Also, the Olympic Flame represents the “Flame of recovery,” a message of hope for disaster victims affected by the Japan earthquake and tsunami that hit Great East Japan in 2011.
At the opening ceremony, Flame was handed over to Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka by 6 students representing the damaged municipalities for the tragedy of 2011. Then, this Japanese athlete had the honor of lighting the Olympic Cauldron. The cauldron designed was inspired by the sun.
The Paralympic athlete Watako Tsuchida, Doctor Hiroli Ohashi, and the nurse Junko Kitagawa joint the tribute to health workers.
Also, the attendants observed a minute of silence to pay homage to all Covid-19 victims.
The Flame at Tokyo National Stadium, for the first time, is sustained in part by hydrogen.
In 2020 due to the pandemic, the torch was hidden from the public to enforce social distancing.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are held in an unprecedented pandemic scenario. However, sport is universal and has a unique power to unite the world through emotion.
In this extraordinary edition, Olympic Games are a tribute to life, health, hope, union, and an occasion to honor those who suffer under this unprecedented natural event and those who had been saving lives and taking care of people in a remarkably brave and compassioned.
Accepting and respecting differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, language, political, national origin, color, and other status peace must be maintained. As a result, society continues to develop and flourish.
Ryan Donner y Asociados members, strongly believe the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speech regarding –“ Today is a moment of hope”-, -“ This is the unifying power of sport. This is a message of solidarity, the message of peace, and the message of resilience. This gives all of us hope for our further journey together”-