Delicate, historic, and heart-warming

In the closing ceremony AVP, triumphant reactions by athletes competing in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 were shown on the screen. In a split second we saw our very own Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz and silver medalist Nesthy Petecio.

Host Japan delivered a ‘comme il faut’ Olympics. It was obvious that they tried to tone it down but they were still able to deliver a spectacular and heart-warming event. The spectators were absent in the venues. They were in their living rooms. Yet somehow the pandemic-era Olympics managed to excite emotions and appeal to our sensibilities. Credit goes to the delicacy, precision, and simplicity of the Japanese.

Japan reminded the world what the Olympics is truly all about. The country was faced with mixed reactions of a COVID-wary Japanese public about the holding of the games in Tokyo. Yet it rose to the challenge despite the unimaginable and unbelievable. So did its army of mask-wearing volunteers, young and old, who were lauded as being instrumental in the success of the games.

“The smile in your eyes have warmed our hearts,” International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach told the volunteers shortly before declaring the Games of the XXXII Olympiad closed.

The United States emerged with the most number of medals won with 113, while China trailed behind with 88 medals. The US also edged China in the gold medal tally, albeit narrowly by one with 39 gold medals. Host Japan came in third with 58 medals, 27 of which were gold.

The Philippines --with our gold medal in weightlifting, and two silver medals one bronze medal in boxing-- was ranked number 50 among 206 participating countries. It was our best performance since the Philippines first competed in the Olympic Games in 1924 in Paris.

The defining message of this Olympics is that life can go on despite the real dangers posed by a pandemic and its resultant economic recession. Amid the fears and pressures we face, we can still be human beings capable of competing with each other, fostering friendships, and contributing to world peace.

As the “Father of the modern Olympics” Pierre de Coubertin advocated over a century ago, Olympism is the “elevation of the mind and soul, overcoming differences between nationalities and cultures, embracing friendship, a sense of solidarity, and fair play; ultimately leading to the contribution towards world peace and the betterment of the world.”

“Sports has the power to change the world and the future. The hope that was ignited here will never be extinguished,” said Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizing committee, in her speech during the closing ceremony.

Tokyo 2020 was a historic Olympics not just for the Philippines but for the entire world, if only because the global community was able to pull it through during a pandemic and regain its momentum for the challenges ahead. Thank you Tokyo, thank you Japan!

The world is now looking forward to Paris 2024 where we hope the crowd will be back when with any luck we will have already gotten this pandemic behind us.

On a personal note, I can say that I had visited three cities in the world that hosted the Olympics – Munich, Beijing, and Tokyo. I had plans of visiting Tokyo again in time for the 2020 Olympics, which would have been my first Olympics experience, but we all know what happened to the world since March 2020.