Sydney McLaughlin turns 22 after the 400m hurdles final, in which he could win Olympic gold and even improve his own world record.
What are your plans to celebrate your birthday?
“I’ll try to find a cupcake and blow out the candles myself,” she said.
Welcome to the fun-free Olympics, where celebrations and displays of camaraderie will be drowned out by the strict rules imposed as part of the pandemic.
The cake McLaughlin gets may be quite sweet, compared to the restrictions that will abound in Tokyo: Face masks and social distancing will be mandatory – two meters (over six feet). Hugging is prohibited when celebrating triumphs.
Gatherings in large groups to eat should be avoided. Alcohol should not be consumed, except in one’s own room and alone. Family interactions will be basically reduced to video calls.
It’s not exactly what athletes envision for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I think it is going to be a very nice prison. You are going to be very excited but you will still be in prison, “said US goalkeeper Brady Ellison, a three-time Olympic medalist. “But when we get there, it might not be as bad as we think, right?”
The thick manual, a guide to “safe and successful games” is full of prohibitions. The consequences of disobeying them can range from warnings to fines or worse, perhaps expulsion, for each of the 15,400 athletes who would participate in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Athletes will try to adapt to the severe limitations. They will not be able to shake hands or walk through the city. When possible, they will have to eat alone.
But in return, they will finally have the opportunity to compete, in an Olympic Games postponed a year by COVID-19.
“They are sacrificing a lot,” said Gregg Popovich, coach of the US team and the San Antonio Spurs. “They will not be able to bring friends or family to Tokyo. It’s a great sacrifice and I think they deserve a lot of credit for that. “
And athletes are getting used to being flexible.
“I suppose something that the pandemic has taught me is not to have any expectations and to always wait for the unknown,” said Jordan Larson, a member of the United States women’s volleyball team, who is preparing to play his third Olympic Games. “It’s going to be different than our past experiences, for sure. But I also think we’re going to look back and say, ‘Wow, remember the time we played in the Olympics in the middle of the pandemic?’
And there will be more athletes who feel homesick. Family members will be able to offer support only by phone and videoconference.
“It’s going to be sad for many families and friends, simply because they will miss a very special moment in life,” Larson said.
Nonetheless, the stage looks set for some gold medal-worthy performances on social media. Let the dancing and singing begin on TikTok, a social network that did not exist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“I feel like they’re going to be a social media-focused Olympics, given the fact that everyone is going to be locked in their rooms,” said Rai Benjamin, a US competitor in the 400m hurdles.
To fill the time between practices and competitions, participants are resorting to a variety of activities:
– American Vashti Cunningham, who competes in the high jump, plans to catch up with episodes of “Naruto”, a Japanese anime series, on Netflix.
– Oksana Masters, a Paralympic cyclist and café-keeper, plans to bring her two talents to the Games. He plans to dispatch coffees from his room for other athletes. In passing, he will try to bulk up his harvest of eight Paralympic medals.
– Sylvia Fowles will spend some time studying to one day run a funeral home. The WNBA Most Valuable Player of 2017 has been a three-time Olympic basketball champion with the United States.
– The Norwegian Karsten Warholm, world record holder of the 400 meters hurdles, will bring DVDs, something that seems out of use, in order to watch movies.
– Ellison will play virtual reality golf, pretending to play on courses like St. Andrews in Scotland or Augusta in Georgia. He claims that this will give him a chance to get some physical activity.
“It will be good to move a little,” he said. “You lose strength when you have to stay in a hotel room.”
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