SPORT / SPORTS
FINALLY, THE OLYMPICS! Why are the circles colorful and how many medals did Tarzan win? Even if you aren’t a sports fanatic and can’t distinguish between baseball and cricket, once every four years you will feel the magical draw of the Olympic Games. This is just such one, long- awaited, Olympic year. See you in Tokyo! Athletes train for years and give their all to be- come the best of the best, often determined in the space of just a few seconds. That’s because, in athlet- ics, just one mistake is enough for everything you’ve done to go to waste. And us? We rejoice with the winners, sympathise with those left without medals due to a millimetre or a hundredth of a second, shout at the TV, wake up at the crack of dawn to cheer for our favourites, adapt to time zones and become really good at recognising flags and national anthems from all over the world. We become enchanted by the Olympic spirit. In or- der for us to understand the emotions evoked by the Olympic Games, it is necessary to familiarise ourselves with some interesting facts that will delight you. Just enough for you to have something to delve into while awaiting the next world record. For starters, we should note that the Tokyo Games were planned for 2020, but were postponed in response to the pandemic and rescheduled for this summer, or
more precisely from 23 rd July to 8 th August. This is the second time that an Olympics scheduled to take place in Tokyo has been moved, with the 1940 Sum- mer Olympics having been initially switched to Hel- sinki, due to the Second Sino-Japanese War, and then cancelled completely because of World War II. Apart from Tokyo and other locations in the Kanto region, certain sporting competitions will be held in lo- cations further away. Road cycling competitions will be held in Oyama, marathon and racewalking competitions will take place in Sapporo, the first baseball and soft- ball games will be played in Fukushima, while football matches will be played all over Japan. The Tokyo Olym- pics will include competitions in a record thirty-three sports. Baseball and softball will return to the games for the first time since 2008; karate, sport climbing, surfing, skateboarding and 3x3 basketball will make their debut appearances, while cycling events will in- clude madison relay racing and freestyle BMX. Mixed gender categories have been introduced in athletics, swimming, table tennis, archery, triathlon and judo. And now let's get back to the more entertaining side of the Games. Unfortunately, there is no relia- ble information about the beginnings of the Olympic Games, with the oldest written records dating back to 776 BC. The games went on to be held every four years over the next 12 centuries, until being abolished in the fourth century AD by Roman emperor Theodo- sius the Younger, due to their pagan origins. Ancient Greek athletes didn’t have to worry about sponsors or equipment – they competed naked, while the Games often lasted five or six months. The official motto of the Olympic Games is ‘Faster, higher, stronger’ (Citius, altius, fortius), while the ideal of Olympism states: The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; just as the essential thing in life is not to have conquered but to have fought well. A great man is one who doesn’t win something without an honourable struggle.
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