What's new at the Tokyo Olympics?
After being postponed last year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is finally pushing through on July 23, Friday.
Apparently, since we are still in the thick of the health crisis, the Olympics this year will definitely be different from the ones before it in many respects.
Here, we breakdown what you can expect in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when it comes to the opening ceremonies, safety protocols, and the new and returning games that will be introduced this year.
Opening Ceremony
One of the most awaited parts of the Olympics is its opening ceremony. For many years, people have anticipated the grand show that each host country presents during the Olympics's opening.
While we are still lucky enough to have a show to look forward to this year, viewers should manage expectations as longtime opening ceremonies executive producer Marco Balich warns that it will not be as big or extravagant as before.
“It will be a much more sobering ceremony,” Balich said in an interview with Reuters. “Nevertheless with beautiful Japanese aesthetics. Very Japanese but also in sync with the sentiment of today, the reality.”
Opposed to the tradition of having all athletes participate in the teams parade, a significantly smaller number will be joining the march, especially since some athletes will only be flying in a few days before their games and leaving quickly to avoid contact with others.
The Olympic Rings at the Olympic Stadium / Source: @tokyo2020 (FB)
No live audience
One of the stark differences of this year's Olympics to the previous ones is the lack of live audiences.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, mass gatherings have been prohibited because these events serve as the "superspreaders" of the dreaded COVID-19 disease.
So, expect mostly empty seats in the stadium during the opening ceremony and the actual games.
Safety protocols like social distancing will also be implemented, especially since there have already been 67 reported cases of COVID-19 in the Olympics.
The Philippines's very own, street skateboarding gold medalist at the 2018 Asian Games, Margielyn Didal / Photo by: @dcatbautista @ margielyndidal (IG)
New sports
While athletes may not be able to feed off from the energy of a live audience this year, there are still things to be excited about, like the new sports that will debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and some returning or modified events.
This year the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has added new sports and 34 new events in total to its program in an effort to attract younger audiences and highlight “the trend of urbanization of sport.”
IOC president Thomas Bach said that sports like skateboarding were included to pique the interest of the younger generation.
"We cannot expect any more that (young people) will come automatically to us; we have to go to them,” Bach said in a statement.
Karate
Japan's very own sport, Karate, which originated in Okinawa, is one of the new sports at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. There will be a total of 80 athletes competing in the karate events: 60 in kumite and 20 in kata.
Kumite is the combat discipline of karate, where karatekas battle each other for three minutes.
Kata, on the other hand is the solo discipline of karate, where each karateka is judged based on choreographed offensive and defensive moves.
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is the must-watch event for young millennial and Gen Z viewers. A total of 80 athletes, both men and women, will be competing in four medal events, including our very own street skateboard gold medalist at the 2018 Asian Games, Margielyn Didal.
Basically, there are two disciplines to skateboarding: street and park.
In street skateboarding, athletes will go through obstacles such as slopes, rails, stairs, kerbs, benches, and walls while showing off their skills and tricks during the set period of time.
While park skateboarding involves a hollowed-out course with complicated curves, where athletes will be climbing the curves at speed and performing tricks mid-air to the accompaniment of music.
Sport climbing
There are a total of 40 climbers competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics: 20 in the men's and 20 in the women's events.
There are three disciplines to sport climbing: speed, bouldering and lead.
As its name suggests, the speed event is a race between two climbers who will take on identical routes, side-by-side on a 15-meter-high wall.
Bouldering, on the other hand, involves completing a set number of routes, also called “problems,” on 4.5-meter-high structures or boulders with steep overhangs in as few attempts as possible.
Meanwhile, in the lead climbing event, athletes will compete to reach the highest point that they can in a 15-meter wall within six minutes.
Surfing
The surfing event at this year's Olympics will be held at the Tsurigasaki Beach, which is about 100 kilometers away from the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
There will be 40 surfers competing in total: 20 men and 20 women.
The athletes will try to catch as much waves as they can during the 30-minute heats, with only their two highest-scoring waves being counted.
Five judges will be assessing their performances using a five-point system, based on the degree of difficulty, speed, power, flow, and innovation.
Four or five surfers will be featured in early heats at one time, before going head-to-head in round three onwards.
The Miyagi Stadium, which will host the football event / Source: @tokyo2020 (FB)
Returning and Modified events
Aside from the new sports debuting, there are also returning and modified versions of established events. Among these are softball, baseball, 3x3 basketball, and BMX Freestyle.
3x3 basketball
As its name suggests, 3x3 basketball is pretty much the basketball game that Filipinos love, except with fewer players.
It is played on the half-court with only three players per team and whoever reaches 21 points first or is leading after 10 minutes, wins the game.
BMX Freestyle
Since the Beijing Olympics in 2008, BMX racing has been a staple event at the Olympics. It was reportedly included by the IOC to tap into the X Games audience.
Now, an off-shoot from the BMX racing event, the BMX Freestyle, will debut at the Olympics.
In the new event, riders will have 60 seconds to perform as many impressive tricks as possible in a course similar to the one used in the skateboarding event.
Baseball and Softball
Sister sports baseball and softball have been reinstated to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics program.
They are basically the same sport with one main difference: the manner in which the pitchers throw the ball. In baseball, pitchers throw overhand while in softball, pitchers throw them underhand.
Each of the two teams have nine players looking to score as many runs as possible. This is done by striking the ball with a bat and running through a series of bases until one reaches the “home plate.”
The teams take turns in batting and fielding and each session is referred to as an inning.
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Check out also the gallery below of Filipino athletes who entered showbiz.
