Namrata Sharma

During the mundane of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics came as a breath of fresh air that brought smiles and happiness to millions of people who watched it via television globally. Amidst opposition and support, the Tokyo Olympics 2021 happened and concluded successfully. For most of the 17 days it was an excellent source of enjoyment for my family. I was particularly glued to my seat watching the closing ceremony where, among other stuff, my eyes welled up when I witnessed two Kenyans receiving golds for their performances. It is for the first time in history that the men’s and women’s victory ceremonies happened together at the summer Olympics Games.

Kenya is always in my heart as I had had the opportunity of working and learning in this beautiful country with its very warm and lovely people. Kenya took the double gold in marathons with Eluid Kipochoge earning his second consecutive gold in the events and Peres Jepchirchir delivering a spectacular finish to win the women’s gold. To see both of these great athletes awarded on the closing ceremony was a pure delight, reminded me of the lovely time I spent in different rural parts of Kenya. Eluid Kipchoge, 36, became the first athlete since 1980 to retain an Olympic marathon title at the Tokyo Olympics. He is the third person to win successive Olympic marathons and is regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all times.

Several records
Although the pandemic hovered over the largest performance of humans that happens every 4 years – this time a year later, there were several records made by young achievers, first golds for different countries, injured sportspeople who made a comeback, open declaration by LGBT community that they are as equal as anyone else and above all a camaraderie and sportsmanship by people cross country, cross race, cross gender and political barriers.

The 28-year-old Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan went to the Netherlands as a refugee in 2008. She made history as one of the greatest distance runners in the Olympics. She thrilled the global spectators by winning three gruelling runs in the 1,500, the 5,000 and the 10,000 metres events!
The British diver Tom Daley is loved not only for his performance of getting the synchronised gold medal he won alongside Matty Lee in Tokyo and the individual 10m platform bronze as the first British diver to win four Olympic medals, but also for inspiring the LGBT community by admitting in the global platform that he was gay and he wanted all to know that they could reach the top.  The 27-year-old is now a role model for the young LGBT community.

The 13-year-old Japanese Nishiya Momiji became the first woman Olympic Skateboarding champion by winning the Gold medal in the inaugural women’s skateboarding gold. The 24-year-old Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a Gold in the athletics by winning the Javelin throw. The 14-year-old Chinese Quan Hongchan became the youngest diver to win a gold medal as she took the women’s 10m dive. Japanese Women Basketball Team got their first Silver medal while the legendary US Women Basketball team made another history in Olympics by winning for the 7th time. Indian Women Hockey team made National record by taking the 4th place in Hockey. At home our Gaurika Singh broke the national records in swimming.

The Olympics is a forum of showcasing heroic deeds. The 24-year-old US gymnastic champ Simone Biles dropped out of the team gymnastics final round after she had won the bronze and was to compete for gold. She has four Olympic gold and 19 world championship titles already to her credit. She is recorded by media having said that the bronze she collected this time could be equal to all the golds because she had to fight long battles during the last five years to come to this stage as she was struggling mental health problems. Now she was finally able to share in from of the global population that she quit to give more importance to her mental health issues.

In one of my articles titled The Mind of a Winner, in this very column, I had written how sportspeople could struggle to maintain their physical and mental well-being but had difficulty dealing with the mental health due to the taboo associated with it. Biles took the courage to drop from proceeding towards yet one more gold. To many, while doing this too, she remains a champ. Another great sportsmanship that was witnessed in Tokyo Olympics was the sharing of the Gold medal by friends Italian Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatari Mutaz Barshim in high jump where they faced a tie.

Shanty dweller
Silver medallist Indian archer Pravin Jadhav was born in a family of daily wage labourers, living near a drain in Maharashtra, was child victim of malnourishment. He used bamboo scraps as bow and arrow initially but with help from his school teachers and final entrance into the Indian Army he could pursue his dreams of being one of the finest archers. Neha Goyal, another shanty dweller near a drain in Sonepat, Haryana became India’s finest hockey team defender. She was sent to the hockey field by her mother, who was a daily wage earner, to escape the violence she faced at home from her unemployed father. She was ensured two meals a day and hockey training by gold medallist Pritam Siwaich which finally made her one of the finest players in the national team making history in Olympics.

The list of amazing achievers in Olympics goes on and on. Salute to all these players who have proven that if one puts hard work and discipline in life, one can achieve anything no matter which country or situation they come from.

(Namrata Sharma is a senior journalist and women rights activist. namrata1964@yahoo.com Twitter handle: NamrataSharmaP)