Paris Olympics Close: People Watched Athletes’ Heated Battles with Prayers for Peace

Editorial

15:37 JST, August 13, 2024

Athletes from various countries competed in heated battles, and at times, they were moved to tears. Amid the ongoing conflicts in various parts of the world, there must have been some people who realized the preciousness of peace at the sight of athletes praising their opponents beyond victory or defeat.

The Paris Olympics have ended. Although the Games opened in a tense atmosphere as the start was marred by acts of sabotage targeting facilities of the country’s high-speed train network, there were no major incidents or other problems after that, and sports schedules were completed safely.

Japanese athletes across a wide range of age brackets performed well. Coco Yoshizawa, who won the gold medal in the women’s street skateboarding, is a 14-year-old junior high school student. In the final round, she brilliantly completed a big trick that she said she had “almost never accomplished, even in practice.”

Japan achieved the feat of grabbing the country’s first equestrian medal in 92 years. The average age of the team members was over 40, and the team’s self-proclaimed nickname, “Shoro (Nearly Old) Japan,” became a topic of conversation.

“Major comebacks” also were hugely inspiring. In the men’s artistic gymnastics team competition, the Japanese team rallied past China in the final event, the horizontal bar, to win the gold medal. In the men’s street skateboarding, Yuto Horigome won his second consecutive Olympic gold medal by pulling off a huge trick in his final run.

The attitudes of athletes in both sports to continue challenging themselves without giving up until the very end were impressive.

In the men’s and women’s wrestling, Japan won a total of eight gold medals in a sport that has long been considered to be Japan’s forte. Haruka Kitaguchi also showed her ability in the women’s javelin, while Taishu Sato won Japan’s first Olympic modern pentathlon medal.

Japan won 20 gold medals and 45 medals in total including silver and bronze, with both figures marking a record high for any Olympics held overseas. Athletes who had continued to train intensively deserve a round of applause.

This year’s Olympics were held under the circumstances of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and Israel’s ongoing offensives in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. The Ukrainian athlete who won the women’s high jump gold said that her medal was for the people who defend her country.

It is the duty of the international community to ensure that athletes in distress due to the worsening war situation can compete with peace of mind.

The Paris Olympics were an event that attempted to present a “new Olympics” after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Olympics proclaimed “diversity” that transcends differences in gender, race and culture, as well as “sustainability” including consideration for the environment. The organizers also made efforts to cut costs through such means as using areas in Paris and existing facilities as competition sites, rather than building new facilities.

Although there were some issues, such as the Vatican expressing its displeasure with the staging of the opening ceremony, there may be some takeaways that can be used to break away from the “commercial Olympics” and make the Games more appealing.

The Olympics also left problems to be addressed, such as the defamation of athletes on social media and the awarding of prize money to medalists by international sports organizations.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 13, 2024)