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ARTWORK: Yige Xu
the olympics the world wanted and tokyo didn’t ZAK KNIGHT
A jack of all trades and master of none, Zak’s column ‘Two Cents and Counting’ will take a look at current affairs and student life, hoping to give you some conversation topics a little left of centre. Tokyo 2020/21 demonstrated that the Olympics truly is the show that must go on. Despite the pandemic and dwindling support from the Japanese people, we have seen the 32nd instalment of the sporting event meant to unify the world. Of course, with the games shrouded in this much controversy, could Tokyo ever live up to this lofty aim? Or even one of its core principles, upholding athlete safety? Continuing in spite of devastating events is not a new phenomenon for the Olympics.
The only iterations of the games to have been cancelled were in 1916, 1940 and 1944. This was all due to the world wars, and multiple games have gone ahead in the face of trying circumstances. The 1968 Mexico City games were held after government forces opened fire on student protests, killing many. The 1972 Munich games still went ahead after two Israeli athletes were taken hostage, and, at Antwerp 1920, the competition was staged even with the threat of the Spanish Flu. So then, will Tokyo be remembered as the games that shouldn’t have gone ahead, or just like many Olympics before it, will the feats of Olympians overshadow what was going on outside the arena?
