Olympic therapy for covid19

I will miss the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; not only watching but interpreting what the glorious rivalries mean.

The games (July 24-August 8) brought great relief to a very troubled world.

However, they sent a saddening message to TT sports authorities and enthusiasts. Our under-achievement syndrome got embarrassingly exposed, requiring urgent, serious review of our demoralising administration and performance.

Deaths, depression and even suicidal feelings from covid 9 around the world have become of great concern. The virus threat compelled many governments to impose if not full lockdowns, then curfews and full-time wearing of masks.

Facing such uncertainties, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finally decided the games must go on.

It was a big risk though. After all, the week before the start of the games, Japan had 848,22 people infected and 15,062 covid19 deaths. The IOC kept asking: will it be safe for the 11,000 incoming athletes?

Quite ambivalent, Tokyo 2020 President, Seiko Hashimoto, said: “I feel sorry for those who bought tickets.”

The costs of the games are over US$15 billion. A newspaper poll in May revealed over 80 per cent of Japanese called for cancelling the Games.

Did the IOC make a mistake? Was it worth it?

The excitement of the Olympics provided therapy where loneliness and depression might have existed. Therapy helps normalise the mind, bringing emotional balance and reason. Covid19 brought mental distress. Tokyo 2020 brought some comfort.

I got up last Thursday morning to hear Steve Gardiner from small Bahamas (population 393,244) capturing gold in the 400m race with Kirani James from small Grenada (population 112,523) getting bronze. Tells us something about size and performance. And against US giants, Hasle Parchment from athletic-proud Jamaica (population 2,961,167) won gold in the 110m hurdles with compatriot Ronald Levy’s bronze.

Which Caribbean citizen didn’t jump up and applaud last week in witnessing the “second fastest woman in history” Elaine Thompson-Herah leading her two compatriots, Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson into victory in the 100m race? Gold, silver and bronze for them in the same race! Jamaicans must have been falling off their chairs.

Or who didn’t wake up late last Tuesday night to send our best wishes to our 2012 gold-medal javelin champion, Keshorn Walcott? I am sure he was more disappointed than we were.

Afterwards came the 200m race which Thompson-Herah won, famously making her the second woman to do the “double-double,” that is winning the 100m and 200m twice in the Olympics. I couldn’t help but watch her every move, her every smile, as she ended her victory run. On her left arm she has tattooed: “Nothing is impossible.”

Look, for dedicated athletic fans, such a thing could bring tears of joy and admiration. So it was when black, stately Athing Mu, 19, surprisingly won gold in the 800m for the US. She had written “confidence” on her ribbon.

It remains amazing what a big difference a .01 sec or a .01 cm can make. I saw an athlete accidently fell, then rose to run again, coming last and crying. Many who won gold looked up and prayed. As exciting as it is, competition always brings more broken dreams than happy hearts.

Then for the 100m men event, a big surprise came when Italian Lamont Jacob, 26, broke the tape with a 9.80-second record victory, becoming the “fastest man alive.” For those nerve-racking minutes, covid19 was lost.

Of course, for those who watched the events, quarrelled, complained and praised, there was much more. There was swimming, jumping, lifting, throwing, skating, horse-riding, boxing and more.

The Polish Anita Wlodarczyk, 36, became the “greatest woman hammer-thrower ever.” With many black athletes victoriously representing Germany, Switzerland, Canada, France, England, etc, Hitler would have fainted if he were still alive. His “superior race” theory got dumped again, starting with the black Jesse Owens's victory in the 100m (10.2 sec) and three other gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. (Bolt did 100m in 9.58 secs at IAAA, Berlin. Sports physiologists claim the fastest an athlete can run the 100m is 9.27 sec.)

Watching Tokyo 2020 took away some covid19 worry, especially if you had already taken two or even one shots, were wearing your mask and feeling safe in your living room.

What other drug-free therapy was there against covid19 worries?