Holding the Tokyo Olympics in the midst of a pandemic last summer was a major challenge for the organizers and forced the athletes to show resilience like never before. And despite the unprecedented context of these Games presented mainly behind closed doors on the Olympic venues, the performances remained impressive, with 20 world records in particular.
The relative success of Tokyo 2020, with a limited number of COVID-19 cases in the “Olympic bubble,” is a source of valuable learning just weeks away from the Beijing Winter Games, where health restriction measures are set. announce even tighter.
Here’s a look at some highlights from the Tokyo Games and a look at the ones from Beijing:
Sources of pride
If the coronavirus pandemic has undermined the preparations of all the athletes and shattered the Olympic dreams of some of them, Canadians have particularly suffered from severe health measures in the country.
Under these circumstances, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) had not set any target for the number of medals in Tokyo. The very good results of the Canadian delegation are all the more satisfactory.
With a harvest of 24 medals (7-6-11), Canadian athletes set a record for an un-boycotted Summer Games and the seven gold medals tied the mark set at the Barcelona Games in 1992.
Moreover, no member of the Canadian delegation tested positive for the coronavirus during the stay in Japan, proof that the plan developed by the COC worked.
“What made me most proud was the unity and discipline demonstrated by the whole team,” said Eric Myles, COC chief athletic, referring to the fact that everyone has joined. the strict health measures put forward in the months leading up to the Games.
“I believe that fundamentally this has contributed to our good results. Coming to Tokyo, Canada was undoubtedly one of the most disciplined countries in this area. And this openness to adapting to changing conditions has served us well. ”
As this plan has proved its worth in Tokyo, the same recipe is applied in view of Beijing and Myles is showing “fairly confident” even though this virus has taught us to be humble and cautious.
Women take center stage
As in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the country’s female athletes shone in Tokyo. Not only were they in the majority – 225 out of a total of 371 athletes – but they also won 18 of the 24 medals, whether solo or as a team.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee is one of the most open national committees when it comes to inclusion and social issues,” Myles notes. When we achieve successes like that with women, we are very proud of it. ”
If swimmers Penny Oleksiak, who with three other medals became the most decorated Canadian Olympian in history, and Margaret Mac Neil, crowned 100m butterfly champion, set the tone for this great success, it’s a Sympathetic weightlifter from Rimouski who rocked Quebec with his gold medal in the under 64 kg category.
Maude Charron’s life has been a whirlwind since that evening of July 27, when she became the second Canadian in her discipline to win Olympic gold.
“Just yesterday, I was watching the videos of my victory and it looks like it’s been years since it happened,” Charron admitted in a telephone interview a few days ago. Yet, it’s only been a few months.
“But I experienced so many emotions, I put so much work into getting there. I think it all happened way too fast. ”
To realize his dream, he had to overcome many challenges. And the pandemic has not helped.
“Even once in Tokyo, there was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of anxiety. One morning, I could wake up in the Olympic Village and be told that I cannot compete because my test the day before was positive. ”
Fortunately, all turned out well for her and her perseverance was rewarded with the most beautiful of rewards.
The future police officer is currently evaluating her options for the next Olympic cycle.
“I’m looking to go to the Commonwealth Games this summer in Birmingham. Then, we will see what is with the next Olympic qualification process for the Paris Games. We have just received the new categories and they are still cutting the quotas for weightlifting. Instead of eight, we will fall to five categories with 12 athletes per category instead of 14. And my category is not there. ”
An exceptional champion
Among the other favorites of Tokyo, we cannot ignore the inspired performance of Damian Warner. In addition to setting an Olympic record, the decathlete also made a place for himself in the list of the best athletes in history by achieving the fifth highest score.
Sprinter Andre De Grasse, for his part, added three more Olympic medals to his record, including gold in the 200m, proving that he is at his best on big occasions. In six finals spread over two Olympics, he never missed a podium.
It is also impossible to forget the overwhelming joy of the players of the soccer team after Julia Grosso’s goal in the shootout against Sweden in the final, the gold medal for the women’s team in the eight point or the cyclist Kelsey Mitchell triumphed on the final day of the Games in the individual sprint event.
Tokyo also allowed the Trifluvienne Laurence Vincent-Lapointe to achieve the goal she set when the women’s sprint canoe was added to the Olympic program in 2017. She won silver in C-1 and added bronze with her teammate Katie Vincent.
As always, these Games gave rise to some heartbreaking moments. Think of diver Jennifer Abel’s eighth place in her last individual Olympic final, her teammate Meaghan Benfeito unable to make it through the semi-final on the 10m tower or even the 5e place of Ottavian Michael Woods in the road cycling race.
But for them as for all the other athletes, a presence in Tokyo was already a victory in itself.
Ready for everything
The specter of COVID-19 still hangs over the next Beijing Games and the Chinese authorities remain lucid, admitting that the event presents a very high risk of transmission, especially with the presence of the more contagious Omicron variant. But they claim to have planned everything to deal with it, in particular with hospitals designated for athletes who test positive.
As in Tokyo, the Canadian team will travel to Beijing without a specific goal for the number of medals, but the hopes are high.
“With the cancellation of World Cups, it becomes so imprecise to do so,” notes Eric Myles. But looking at the good results of the last few weeks and of other athletes who are less visible because they are already qualified, we are confident.
“The focus for our athletes is to stay healthy and succeed in qualifying. In Tokyo, we saw athletes who were more rested, less injured, and that made for extraordinary performances. We’re going to wish each other the same this winter. ”
In its last screening, the data analysis company Gracenote predicted a harvest of 23 medals in Canada, which would place it fifth in the standings.
She predicts gold medals in Canada in men’s hockey – it was before the withdrawal of NHL players – and in women, for mogul specialist Mikaël Kingsbury, snowboarder Maxence Parrot, as well as speed skater Laurent Dubreuil.
Canada returned from the PyeongChang Games in 2018 with 29 medals (11-8-10), a Winter Games record.