The Olympics in a time of pandemic: the equation was complex, the bet risky. The majority of the Japanese were hostile, for health reasons, to the holding of the Games in their country.
And yet, even in the absence of the public, and despite the application of very strict measures, the magic of the Games won out.
The 1964 Tokyo Olympics – less than 20 years after the end of World War II – signaled the return of a democratic and prosperous Japan on the international stage. The Tokyo 2020 Games have reinforced Japan’s image of resilience, unity and courage since the Fukushima tragedy in 2011. In terms of “soft power”, beyond its only sporting success, the first winner of these Games is undoubtedly Japan.
What criteria should be retained to draw a first geopolitical assessment of the Tokyo Games, which have just concluded as they opened: with elegance, poetry, good humor and simplicity? If we retain the demographic criterion and the population / medal ratio, the Netherlands and even more New Zealand constitute two clear winners. With less than five million inhabitants, the latter country finishes in thirteenth place in the world. India, in terms of demographics, despite its gold medal in the men’s javelin, continues to occupy the last place. This giant, which will tomorrow be the world’s leading demographic power, is struggling, unlike China, to make Olympic sports a national priority.
If we move from demography to geography, Asia, all countries combined, is still a long way off – despite the very positive results of China and Japan, not to mention South Korea – of catching up with Europe. If we add the countries of the European Union, Great Britain – which once again has achieved exceptional games – and Russia, the European Union exceeds Asia (and Africa) and does more than a level playing field with the country which emerges as the winner – by little, it is true – in its bilateral competition with China and the United States.
Democracy holds up
If one takes as the criterion that of the political regime, it would be premature to bury – as the Chinese and Russian leaders often do – the democracies. To mobilize hearts, and bodies, democracy once again “holds up”. The individual exploits of the Italians in athletics, those of the French in team sports provide proof of this. The case of France is particularly interesting. We often put forward the individualism of the French. In Tokyo, their sense of collective, their sense of responsibility towards the group made the difference, from judo to handball, including fencing, basketball and volleyball. Everything happens as if these athletes intended to respond by their example to the individualism and the frenzied selfishness of these French (very minority) who oppose the health pass and are not ready, as declared by one of the them on France 2, « to sacrifice their freedom to grant a few months of extra life to people over 90 years old ”.
The Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games were not the modern equivalent of a “Truce of God”. The violence of nature and men continued. But, for nearly two weeks, the athletes did not only make us dream. They gave us life lessons, like this Qatari and this Italian who shared the gold medal in the high jump. Can’t wait for Paris.
Special advisor to the Institut Montaigne.
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hyères
