The 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics began last week, and here we are nearly four days in, and I have spent a single second thinking about them. Oh sure, I have seen the scores and the occasional medal update, but in terms of interest, these games have fallen flatter for me than a fat uncle’s belly flop in the backyard pool.
It’s not as if there isn’t plenty going on, the Olympics are a constant buzz of activities. But in the malaise of the pandemic, I’m just not that interested in it.
Maybe it’s because these Olympics were delayed. The decision was difficult, but simply had to be made. There was no way to run the games safely in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 when thousands were dying on a daily basis around the globe. One year later, any anticipation for those games seem to have worn off.
Maybe it’s because the Japanese public never really supported the games? Public opinion prior to the games was tepid at best, to which the IOC largely shrugged off. Now that the games are in full swing, the attitude towards them has definitely soured as any positive coverage has been limited, and the economic boon promised by the IOC to possible hosts has largely gone unrealized. The Japanese are nothing if not practical and decidedly austere. Self-promotion and rah-rah enthusiasm are not traditional Japanese values.
Maybe it’s because we’re still in the pandemic, despite some folks here in the States acting like COVID doesn’t exist as they run pell mell towards normalcy, whether it actually returns or not. But it’s hard to separate these Olympics from the times we live in. In fact, a number of people associated with the Games have already come up sick, belying the concerns in the run-up to games regarding the safety of the the participating athletes, the tourists coming to Games, and the Japanese public at large.
I had planned on possibly returning to Japan this summer, but the travel restrictions on entering the country eliminated that possibility. Limiting tourism during the games was absolutely the correct move, but in taking away the spectators from the stands, have the Games also taken away a reason to tune in? Seeing the flags, costumes and pageantry of the crowds, the family members of athletes going crazy, or whatever this craziness of the opening of the 2008 Beijijng Games was provides incentive to watch. You want to be a part of this.
But a pandemic games? Not so much.
I’m not the only social scientist who’s noticed by the way. I’d suggest about 8-10 months from now, you’ll see more than a few academic articles concerning this very issue.