TOKYO 2020 The UAE joins The Triumph of Human Will

Perhaps there has never been any global game in the modern era that has come to be with so much doubt and uncertainty as to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo 2020 since the global outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 has had a question mark over its hosting: to be or not to be? 

As the coronavirus became a global torn in the flesh, the organizers of the games with the blessing of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had no other option than to postpone the games making the Tokyo 2020 games the fourth Summer games to have been postponed and the first postponed for a reason other than war.

As the Olympics games got moved to the summer of 2021; it was done in the hope that the world would, perhaps, have been able to sufficiently rein in the pandemic to make it safe enough for the games to go ahead in the host city. But alas, up till about a week ago, there was still a huge weight of uncertainty hanging over the hosting of the games in the city of Tokyo like the Sword of Damocles.

With many internationally renowned athletes pulling out of the Olympics as the games neared their take-off; it was reported that one of the games officials inside the athletes’ village, a place that was supposed to be the safest for athletes in Tokyo, had tested positive to the virus.

This incident, alongside the fact that there had been a spike in the number of coronavirus incidents in the city of Tokyo, again threatened to throw the spanners in the works with the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, speaking of the possibility of canceling the games altogether although the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, immediately shut down any such idea, insisting that the ‘show will go on.  

The fact that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games could still hold, howbeit, without fans and with a lot of restrictive measures that make the games less of the global spectacle it usually is, is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and willpower. Tokyo 2020, more than anything else, testifies to the fact that we humans can achieve even the impossible in the face of adversity.

It is an act of defiance, not against the authorities of Tokyo and Japan, but rather against the Covid-19 Pandemic that has not only disrupted our traditional ways of life but has also threatened to halt it through fear and despair. 

As may have been expected, while many have opposed the hosting of the games and called for an outright cancellation of it; many others have succumbed to the fears and seeming hopelessness that the situation has unleashed upon mankind.

However, the global societies have continued to fight side-by-side to defy the virus and to ensure that threats to human societies and indeed, all mankind, do not deprive us of the opportunity to experience, not only the greatest sporting spectacle in human history; but one that also engenders our sense of global oneness and community.

The 206 teams from the over 193 countries affiliated with the IOC, show by their participation in the Tokyo 2020, that the human ‘Will’ stands defiant and sufficient to tide us through the toughest of times and experiences. Like in the movie, Green Lantern, whose rings are powered by ‘will’; participating nations of the world and their athletes represent ting them at the games, show that where there is a will, there is indeed a way to surmount any challenge or obstacle no matter what it might be.

The UAE, like many other nations, has taken its stand side-by-side to other participating nations to defy the Covid-19 threat to the hosting of the Olympic Games and has shown that together with others, the human will, will triumph. 

The UAE has therefore sent a five-member squad to the Tokyo Olympics, which is its smallest contingent since the nation first participated at the Games in Los Angeles in 1984.

Those who have gone to the games to stand in solidarity with the rest of the world against the pandemic are Saif Bin Futtais (Shooting), Victor Scvortov (judo), Ivan Remarenco (judo), Yousuf Al Matrooshi (swimming), and Hassan Al Noobi (track and field).

Although the National Olympic Committee had initially named six participants in the contingent made up of four qualifiers and two wildcards; Discus thrower, Fatima Al Hosani, who was initially offered wildcard access to the games was deemed ineligible to compete as she had not taken part in any international competition for over two years.

Tokyo 2020 has begun in earnest and all of us will once again witness the triumph of the human spirit and will, not just for the individual or national glory, but also for mankind.

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