2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics [July 23rd-August 8th]

[Tofu]

Let the games begin!

 

Who's ready for the summer Olympics? It's scheduled to begin on July 23rd, running through August 8th in Tokyo, Japan. This is one year later than the original schedule, but due to the pandemic, it was pushed back to this year. There will be no spectators at this event and I've heard athletes say their families will not be allowed in. I created this thread for us to talk about everything related to the summer Olympics.

 

What sport(s) are you most excited for? Who/What country will you be rooting for? And which countries do you predict will take home the most medals?! 

 

All the sports that will be at the Olympics this year:

Spoiler

 

How the medal will look like:

Spoiler

 

 

 

[NiteWalker]

it will be under control??? i heard that a number of volunteer had actually quitted 

[Tofu]

30 minutes ago, NiteWalker said:

it will be under control??? i heard that a number of volunteer had actually quitted 

They released the rules everyone has to followed when they are in Japan. It's quite extensive and the athletes have to get tested everyday. There's also an app they have to download so their movements can be tracked (they are not allowed to be tourists during their time there). I have a feeling that at least one athlete will probably break the rules and not be able to participate. 

 

 

[NiteWalker]

1 minute ago, Tofu said:

They released the rules everyone has to followed when they are in Japan. It's quite extensive and the athletes have to get tested everyday. There's also an app they have to download so their movements can be tracked (they are not allowed to be tourists during their time there). I have a feeling that at least one athlete will probably break the rules and not be able to participate. 

 

 

 

 

there goes a saying 'Rules are meant to be broken'

 

[Tofu]

1 hour ago, NiteWalker said:

there goes a saying 'Rules are meant to be broken'

Haha! I hope it doesn't happen because it puts a lot of people at risk if they are careless. I read that about 80% of people living in Japan are against the Olympics. I don't blame them because it's a small country and they will be having around 10,000 athletes and 70,000+ media personnels. 

 

 

[NiteWalker]

22 hours ago, Tofu said:

Haha! I hope it doesn't happen because it puts a lot of people at risk if they are careless. I read that about 80% of people living in Japan are against the Olympics. I don't blame them because it's a small country and they will be having around 10,000 athletes and 70,000+ media personnels. 

 

 

 

yes i know what you mean...everyone is concern...however the project was already well under way before the pandemic happen and if this isnt push forward....Japan will suffer a blow too

[NiteWalker]

@Tofu i think this is something the citizen is worried about....with all the call for the Olympic cancellation

 

 

[Tofu]

Some of the athletes have tested positive for COVID already. So dangerous for for citizens there. 

 

Jackson's video doe the Olympics. 

 

[NiteWalker]

On 7/20/2021 at 6:16 AM, Tofu said:

Some of the athletes have tested positive for COVID already. So dangerous for for citizens there. 

 

yes its over 70k athletes? including the team coach and everything?

[Tofu]

11 hours ago, NiteWalker said:

yes its over 70k athletes? including the team coach and everything?

Probably? I think media alone is around that many people already...

[NiteWalker]

4 hours ago, Tofu said:

Probably? I think media alone is around that many people already...

 

oh sorry u stated it was 10k athletes and 70k media personnel all around?

[Tofu]

21 hours ago, NiteWalker said:

oh sorry u stated it was 10k athletes and 70k media personnel all around?

Yeah, that's what I read in one article. 

 

Jackson Wang promoting again. I think he even has the Olympic rings tattoo on his arm.

 

[Tofu]

Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony show director fired over decades-old anti-Semitic comments

From CNN's Junko Ogura in Tokyo

 

Tokyo 2020's opening ceremony show director was dismissed Thursday, shortly after local media reported on anti-Semitic comments he made about the Holocaust in 1998.

 

Comedian Kentaro Kobayashi would be dismissed for his past performance, which ridiculed "painful facts of history," Tokyo 2020 organizers said in a statement.

 

"As the opening ceremony is approaching, we deeply apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused to many people concerned, the citizens of Tokyo, and the people of Tokyo," the statement read.

 

Though Kobayashi's comments were made more than two decades ago, they only recently resurfaced in the Japanese press.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish global human rights group, on Wednesday condemned the remarks.

 

"Any association of this person to the Tokyo Olympics would insult the memory of six million Jews and make a cruel mockery of the Paralympics," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the center's associate dean and global social action director.

 

Kobayashi apologized in a statement, saying his past behavior was "inadequate."

 

"As a person who is in the business of entertaining people, it should not be my job to make people feel unpleasant. I understand that my foolish choice of words at the time was a mistake, and I regret it," he said.

 

Organizers did not explain in their statement how Kobayashi will be replaced just a day before the opening ceremony.

 

Kobayashi is the second official tied to the event to lose his post this week due to comments that were recently made public. The opening and closing ceremonies' music composer, Keigo Oyamada, resigned from his position after he was criticized for saying in interviews that he bullied classmates.

 

The Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. in Tokyo, but will be pared down in comparison to previous versions. Only about About 950 VIPs will attend, organizers said.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/tokyo-2020-olympics-07-22-21-spt/h_d1299a0454f9189ca3bd28579b89c039

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

This is interesting. I wonder how the ceremony is going to go tomorrow then. 

[Tofu]

At the opening ceremony, only 3-4 athletes per country is allowed. It started at 8pm Japan time. In the USA, you can watch it on NBC. I don't know about a streaming website yet. If I find that out, I'll link it here. It starts at 8am my time. 

 

Seems like they also figured out who is going to be creative director for tomorrow:

Quote

 

Who’s planning the opening ceremony?

There’s been a considerable amount of turnover on the creative team for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics since the games were postponed in March 2020.

 

After replacing renowned Japanese actor Mansai Nomura as head creative director of the ceremonies in December 2020, Hiroshi Sasaki, a former advertising executive who oversaw the Olympic flag handover segment at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Closing Ceremony, resigned from the position less than three months later over a derogatory comment he made about popular Japanese comedian and fashion designer Naomi Watanabe.

 

And the week before the Opening Ceremony started in July, musician Keigo Oyamada, who performs under the name Cornelius, resigned after allegations emerged that he had bullied a classmate with disabilities as a child. Just a little more than 24 hours before the Opening Ceremony was set to begin, the event’s organizers dismissed the ceremony’s creative director, Kentaro Kobayashi after a video surfaced in which he made fun of the Holocaust.

 

Italian creative director Marco Balich is serving as executive producer of the Tokyo ceremonies in partnership with Japanese advertising firm Dentsu. Balich has previous experience producing Olympic ceremonies for the 2006, 2014 and 2016 Games.

 

Balich has said that the COVID-19 pandemic will somehow be referenced during Tokyo’s Opening Ceremony. “I think for sure the Olympic ceremony, which is a window of all humanity, will have to reflect somehow or reference somehow what has happened,” Balich told Reuters in March 2020.

https://time.com/5687730/tokyo-olympics-opening-ceremony-2021/

 

 

Also the count of positive COVID cases are at 91 and the games have yet to begin!! 

 

 

[NiteWalker]

well they still set to release at 8pm tonight

 

 

 

[im0202]

Watching the opening ceremony now and it’s weird to see no audience and no cheering going on. It’s really toned down and rightly and appropriately so.

I’m just happy it’s even happening. I love watching the Olympics and was really sad it couldn’t happen last year.

 

My favourite sports to watch are Artistic Gymnastics and Swimming!

My cheap thrill is trying to identify the flags before they show/announce the name as the contingents walk out😂 Always had a thing for matching flags to country names.

Edited July 23, 2021 by im0202

[abs-oluteM]

Don't watch much ...the only one that usually catches my interest is badminton.

One for Team Malaysia

Our flag bearers

So cute

 

[im0202]

Too bad SG doesn’t really have what we can call a national traditional costume lol.

The African nations and island nations are a joy to watch! Such beautiful costumes 

I know I’ll be spending my entire weekend watching the Games~ 

Don’t have much to root for - I’m not expecting much from our athletes this time round haha.

 

Edit: for @abs-oluteM haha

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by im0202

[abs-oluteM]

2 minutes ago, im0202 said:

Edit: for @abs-oluteM haha

Aiyo what he put on his body ...so shiny!! Oil?? Must cc fellow abs analyst @mademoiselle @Chocolate

 

Look at the Tokyo Village\

 

[mademoiselle]

@abs-oluteM Yeah they put oil. I thought you of all people would know this better than us.

[Tofu]

I had to go feed my friend's cat this morning so I missed the opening ceremony.  I'll have to watch it this evening when it airs again. 

 

I'm the most interested in the women's gymnastics. We have a local favorite who will be competing and she's predicted to win some medals if no mistakes are made. 

 

 

[Tofu]

I think it's pretty awesome that she's representing Japan even though she lived in America for a long time. She gave up her US citizenship to represent Japan (in general, not just at the Olympics games). 

 

[abs-oluteM]

11 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

@abs-oluteM Yeah they put oil. I thought you of all people would know this better than us.

TBH , it didn’t look like oil. At some angles(probably lighting )  I kept thinking it looks like glazed donuts 

[bai]

@abs-oluteM sugar glazing.. ROFL  

 

btw Japan with their own quirk is a special magnet hahaha like this one.. Reminds me of their weird but funny games

 

 

 

[im0202]

2 hours ago, bairama said:

btw Japan with their own quirk is a special magnet hahaha like this one.. Reminds me of their weird but funny games

Hahaha this was my favourite part of the performances! Even worth a rewatch.

 

I’m feeling quite devastated now because my favourite gymnast for the past 10 or so years has just crashed out of the Games as he fell from the high bar during preliminaries😢

Worse still, Japan couldn’t give him an ovation as there was no audience in attendance. Sad that his last appearance in the Olympics has to end this way 

Edited July 24, 2021 by im0202