2020 Olympics Part Two: The People Who Made it Interesting

What really makes the Olympics so riveting is the people.  All have made sacrifices to be there and many have very high skill levels.  Only a few will win the gold medal.  Others may be happy with lesser medals, or personal bests or meeting other athletes (and non athletes).  Disappointment and bitterness is visible.  Without losers there can be no winners.  Here it is to appreciate effort and fairness.   Armchair quarterbacks are quick to criticize and advise, but they can't ever know the whole story.  One of the benefits of the Olympics is to encourage more people to be more active.

Naomi Osaka, hometown Japanese tennis star feeling mental pressures decided she was not up  to an Olympic match   Shortly after Simone Biles, announced she would not be competing in her next competitions.  In the case of Simone the preparation is difficult to comprehend often for a six second vault.   Her team mates and others rallied around her and she finished by winning a  bronze in the last event.  I hope like other athletes she will be remembered for what she did more than any "failing" plus as an advocate against sexual abuse.  In her defense I picked up from Facebook (thanks Victoria Pearce) a quote from John Wooden--"Success is peace of mind in knowing you have done your best."

It is hard to avoid that most commentary on gymnastics (and diving) focuses on negatives.  In reality that might be the most effective way to differentiate performances.  Naively I would hope to see more emphasis on the positives. --difficult routine and execution--build up a score instead of knocking it down.

The men's high jump provided not only a tense competition, but one of the more dramatic happenings.  In the end two men were tied and decided not to have a jump off, meaning they would share a gold medal.  This was ok'd by officials.  One was a Qateri, Mumtaz Essa Barshim who showed some emotion, but the other, Italian Gianmarco Tamberi was exuberant jumping up and hugging his opponent,  By coincidence he was on the track when another Italian unexpectedly won a gold medal for the 100 meter sprint and the two hugged each other.

Sifon Hassan was for me the most remarkable athlete.  An immigrant from Ethiopia she ran for the Netherlands and unlike many who chose to concentrate on their best chance for a medal, she decided to go for three medals.  She fell in morning heat for 1500, but went onto win from way behind.  Then in the same evening won gold medal in 5,000.  She had to accept a bronze for the 1500 final, but then went on to win the 10,000.

Women's golf got my attention more than I expected.  I had only heard of Lydia Ko and after a bad first round she finished second. An American Nelly Korda won, but a favorite of the announcers (and mine) Aditi Ashok, only 18 from India finished fourth.

Canadian women soccer team beating their Americans  (yes that does give extra joy and apparently extra humiliation for the Americans)  in penalty kicks.  Then beating Sweden for the gold medal with another penalty kickoffs.  A lot of tension in both games. Concern was expressed that there is no Canadian women's soccer league and hope that their success will spur the effort.  

Many years ago I was on the executive for a recreational youth soccer league.  We lived away from the playing field and often ended up driving other distant players including one precocious girl.  Our league let boys and girls play together, but at about the age of puberty most girls dropped out.  I campaigned for a girls team to play against similar teams elsewhere in the city and after a year it occurred.  That last thing I did was to hire a coach before resigning as my son had moved on.  More on my volunteer career:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/06/my-career-as-sports-volunteer.html

On the men's side Brazil and Italy displayed a lot of skill and also ended up in extra time, but Brazil was able to score before being stuck in penalty kicks.

Enjoyed the Japanese women's basketball team   They were outsized by American women and probably most other opposition, but played to the potential of the game with their passing, shooting and aggressive defense.  Am reminded that at one time there was a league that required teams to confine themselves to a total height for players on the floor.  There was even a team in my hometown, Hamilton until the league folded.   On the men's side France, Spain, Slovenia and of course the all star gold medal Americans were exciting to watch.  My basketball connections:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/06/my-60-year-love-affair-with-basketball.html

I was only able to get a glimpse of handball.  Compared to basketball, shorter players can better hold their own.  Instead of a hoop 10 feet above the floor there is a net guarded by a goalie.  There is a requirement to bounce the ball if you go more than a few steps.  The French women beat the Russians for the gold in a competitive game.

The start for short sprint events got more attention.  In track, Donovan Bailey was really a good explanation of the psychology perhaps for me creating more focus.  With almost no loud crowds to deal with the athletes are more sensitive to slight noises such as camera clicks.  The judges have in some cases been forgiving, but they have access to more sophisticated equipment that measure more delicately response time which now becomes a decision factor regarding false starts.   There were it seemed more numerous false starts than usual and one can appreciate that the psychological adjustments can be the critical difference in races decided by less than one tenth of a second.  For swimming which also has more sensitive  timing equipment one positive point was that allowing for the fact that sound travels giving the furthest from the starter a disadvantage.  They are able to give simultaneous beep sounds at the starting blocks.  Andre de Grasse bronze winner at 100 and 4 x 100 relay and gold at 200 seems to be able to relax at stressful times (for example with three false starts for one heat).   He is also able to beat those with better times, but he has consistently picked the right time to perform.

As a high schooler in small schools sprints (specifically 100 yards) I had awareness that the start was critical, but wasn't very good.  In one race the placing judge pointed out that I was likely the fastest at the finishing line, but didn't qualify to move on.  At the time we ran in yards and I missed the opportunity of an extra 10 yards or so offered by the 100 meters.  It is incredible to think on how little details can have a magnifying consequence.   My son went to high school where there was more frequent competition, more choices and better coaching.  He started off encouragingly with the 100 meters, but moved up to 200 meters, then 400 meters and settling on 800 meters where he was able to compete into his 30's.

In some qualifying relay (team) events best athletes kept out to rest or compete in other events--backfires sometimes.  The relays are exciting because there is often a change of rankings with each baton exchange.  The baton exchanges require skill and practice and in a few cases hurt those teams that did not practice enough. 

Also more aware of the hazards of space management for longer track distances with staggered starting positions reflecting allowance for curves.  If they are able the ones on the inside have a potential advantage if they are able to have a good start., but in danger of being blocked in  Unfortunately there have been a few tumbles that eliminate potential winners, but more common are the concerns about being boxed in or have to go outside with greater distance.

Decathlon and Heptathlon are events developed for the Olympics and have been thought of as test for the best all around athlete.  No one has ever been top in all 10 or 7 events (running, throwing, jumping) which is humbling and boost camaraderie.  Damian Warner set new Olympic and Canadian records to win a gold medal.  

Race walking may seem boring, but I felt an affinity to it from my youth in Oshawa.  One of our few international champions was Alex Oakley.  I once saw him training at a local park where he lapped another walker.  At one point the neighborhood kid decided we would include race walking as one of our contests.  We didn't really know the rules and most of us drifted towards lifting both feet off the ground with our legs straight as it was faster.  Understanding the rules a little better it is easier to appreciate how natural it would be to cheat and at Tokyo the judges were busy.  Evan Dunfee had gone through a teasing experience at Rio that saw him temporarily winning a bronze medal and then relegated back to fourth.  This year he came through with a bronze in the 50 kilometers.

One disappointment was that Jessica Phoenix was forced to withdraw her entry in eventing equestrian as her horse had medical issues.  I had taken her photo for The Rider and she always struck me as a modest, cheerful and capable athlete.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya of Belarus became alarmed with her coaches and was told by relatives it was not safe at home.  So she defected to Poland.  Defections used to be more common.  An Arab athlete withdrew because he refused to match up against an Israeli.  On the other hand the Iranian coach was willing to shake hands with the Israeli coach of the Czechoslovakian basketball team.  There were other political moves, but not many that got noticed.

Some sports may seem questionable, but the benefit is that their inclusion encourage more people to participate with social as well as health benefits.  Surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing, karate and softball/baseball were additions.  Track added a mixed 4 x 400 relay that was very exciting with Poland winning. 

There were a lot of interesting tv. commercials.  These two were part of promotional efforts for the Paralympics:

Petrocan had a series pointing the role of coaches.  "It gets easier later." with coach Bob Westman encouraging paralympian Marisa Papaconstantiou.  Athlete have to go through the drudgery of getting prepared.      

Toyota. did little profiles of athletes.  Jessica Long, born in Siberia was adopted at 13 months and five months later had her two legs amputated following a disease that had been known beforehand.  She had been encouraged to be active and got involved with swimming going on to become the most decorated American Paralympic swimmer. 

For my earlier blog on the 2020 Olympics:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/08/2020-olympics-setup-and-frame.html

The Pan American Games come to Ontario

The Pan American Games are seen by some (athletes and bureaucrats) as a stepping stone to the really important event, the Olympics.  By others it is seen as bush league or a burden on tax payers.

My viewpoint is that it is an opportunity to showcase your talent.  That is true for both athletes, bureaucrats and taxpayers.  Those who love sports and those who love international pageantry should see it as a feast, maybe not as exciting as the Olympics, but a lot closer and competitive within its limitations.

The Olympics fascinated me as a young boy and although it sometimes seems too commercial it never fails to get my attention.  I lived the excitement through newspapers and television and lately the inter net, but only have a very slight personal connection.  The Pan Am Games intruded into my personal life and that of my neighbours and fellow Canadian citizens and taxpayers.  We started off unimpressed and a bit jaded, but now that they are over maybe we missed too much of a good thing.

As with almost everything else the sports world is increasingly globalized.  At the same time the grassroots has never lost its importance.  While us armchair quarterbacks pontificate on the merits or lack of them for athletes and sports events it all starts beneath our radar.

Toronto stymied at Olympic bids obtained the rights to the 2015 Pan American Games.  One smart thing was to spread the events around Ontario.  They got several municipalities invested in the idea and spread out potential traffic problems.  My home town, Hamilton was given a chance to hold both the soccer games and the indoor cycling and at another time they had a shot at track and field.  Not everyone on council or in the bureaucracy saw this as an opportunity and we ended up just getting the soccer, the second most popular sport.

Along the way I heard complaints about the stadium being behind schedule, from someone on site.  The Go Station was supposed to be ready to help expedite ticket buyers from out of town to the game, but every day I either drove or walked past it and could see little progress.  Lots of complaints about how unimportant it was or others about how poorly we were handling it.

For prior years there had been a big controversy over our Hamilton Ti-Cat football facilities, known as Ivor Wynne Stadium, named for one one of the founders of the British Empire Games.  It was recognized as no longer up to standards.  The owners wanted to move it to a location where they could charge for parking, but a lot of citizens myself included wanted it located near the harbour where it would be more central and accessible (for instance in walking distance of the proposed new GO station.)  With the Pan Am Games money was found to upgrade the stadium and it was decided to keep the same location in a residential neighbourhood with poor parking.  It was behind schedule and failed to open in time for the football schedule, but they did try it for a concert and later for a friendly women's soccer game prior to the Women's World Cup.

It became evident that a lot of the best athletes were not going to come.  It turns out that for many it is necessary to qualify for the Olympics through a different procedure, although some events were qualifying.  When the Olympics opened up for professional athletes someone somewhere seemed to decide that regional events like the Pan American Games would be more for development.  Just a few weeks before the Canadian women organized our best women (many playing professionally) and they gave a good account of themselves but for the Pan American Games almost all the players were under 22.  Different countries handled the rosters differently.

Finally the Games were set to begin.  The Open Ceremonies were first class with Cirque de Soleil organizers involved.  Lots of fireworks (around the CN Tower) and celebrities.  Steve Nash, one of my heroes lit the flame and Bobby Orr was introduced at one point.

I was able to buy tickets for a women's soccer game with my son visiting from New Zealand.  It was a double header with Ecuador vs Brazil first followed by Canada vs. Costa Rica.  In the first game underdog Ecuador scored first with what I recall as the best goal in the Pan Am, but easily wiped out by 5 goals from one Brazilian player.  Although the crowd was far from full they supported Canada, but unfortunately Costa Rica won 2-0 in what was a satisfying display for me.  Costa Rica had been one of my favourites in the men's World Cup as they upset much higher ranked teams.  We were able to walk about three blocks from home, pick up a bus for free (included in ticket price) and walk about two blocks to the game.   I hadn't been to the old Ivor Wynne Stadium in many years, but the new originally called Tim Horton's Field , but for the Pan Am relabelled CIBC Stadium was much improved and I was unable to detect any serious flaws.

The rest of the actual Pan-Am games for me was on tv and increasingly on the inter-net where you would get more live action.  Many highlights were enjoyed.  The women's basketball with Kia Nurse from Hamilton, an instrumental force in Canada winning the gold medal against favoured Americans.  Kia was chosen to be the flag bearer at the Closing ceremonies. The men's basketball was also exciting and I was impressed not only with Canada, but also, Brazil who won the gold medal, and also, Argentina, and little Dominican Republic.  Perhaps the top players might have made a difference, but competitive all the same.

I watched a little baseball, but missed the best part.  In the gold medal game the score was tied at the end of 9 innings and I started to watch extra innings.  An unusual (but sensible) rule was that in extra innings each team starts out with men on first and second and can tinker with the batting order.   The Americans scored two runs in their half and I decided I needed to get to bed, but taking advantage of an error Canada won.  Baseball had been eliminated from the Olympics, but seems likely to be reinstated for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Track got a lot of my attention with Canadians successful in the decathlon, high jump and sprints.  One of the special moments for me was when Damian Warner set a new Pan Am record and the higher Canadian record in the decathlon with the previous record holder, Michael Smith in the announcer booth.  Mike was more than gracious, praising Damian and suggesting he will break more records in the future.   To me the most exciting track events are the relays, especially the 4 x 400.  They were all enjoyable, but unfortunately De Grace missed his chance for a third gold medal when afterwards the Canadians were disqualified.

Equestrian sports got my attention.  The team event was a qualifier for the Olympics and with a little luck they came through in fine style.  Jessica Phoenix won a silver medal in individual eventing.  I remember her from some photo ops at the Royal Winter Fair where she was uncommonly gracious.

There was a wide range of events, some of which are not Olympic events such as bowling and water skiing, but I only saw snippets of them.  I found myself watching a fair amount of soccer and volleyball, but missed some of my normal preferences of swimming and gymnastics.

I didn't see the closing ceremonies as I opted to go to a fireworks/music display near where I live.   There was a little bit of controversy with the choice of for main entertainment.  Although popular people objected to an American, Kanye West getting the spotlight.  I remember for the Atlanta Olympics the organizers had to explain why Celine Dionne was given prime spot at their closings and they just said they wanted the best.  When I think of Pan America I think of Latin music with Brazilian amongst my favourite entertainment.  Nothing against Kanye, if the organizers thought he was the best and most appropriate one available, but my tastes are different.  A preliminary singer was Serena Ryder who had sung theme song which I liked more than enough to buy the iTune version and went on to buy the French and Spanish recordings.  One of the writers of the song was Jasmine Denham and she sang the French version.  This was the 400th anniversary of francophones in Ontario.

The city of Hamilton decided to have a free concert with a special fireworks display.  I got a little late and just saw the tail end of the Turbo Street Funk Band which seemed like a fun group.  Terra Lightfoot, who I had never heard before was given a chance to perform with the National Academy Orchestra under the direction of Boris Brott--turned out to be very enjoyable.  The Fireworks were done by Circus Orange.

Was the fuss worth it?  I would say it deserved more fuss and that many missed an opportunity.  Why do we like sports?  Perhaps some like skill, strength, speed, but more likely competitiveness.  There was plenty of skill and certainly competitiveness.  Maybe we didn't see the very best, but we did see some excellent and developing athletes.

To me such events are more than just sports as there is the international element.  As hockey fanatics have a tendency to appreciate the nations that are competitive in that sport.  Not too many hockey players in the Caribbean or Central and South America, but they do produce a lot of top notch soccer, basketball, baseball players and sprinters.

A major concern with the organizers was traffic.  Traffic congestion would leave a bad impression on visitors as well as taxpayers.  One solution was called a HOV lane which normally requires only one passenger to allow a car to use the fast lane.  For the Pan Am Games two passengers were required.  Taking our son to the airport we were able to use the HOV lane which greatly speeded up the process but coming back with only the two of us it was noticeably slower.  Still provincial authorities were pleased with the results and may adopt it as a long term solution.  The Go Station did open in time and combined with shuttle buses made it easy for out of town visitors to get to the games and back home or hotel quickly.
 
A lot of local Hamilton merchants not too happy about how the GO service worked as people found little near the stadium to interest them and speeded out of town without spending much money (outside the stadium of course).  If we ever get another chance (say for the Grey Cup) we should try to remedy this oversight so that more local businesses could benefit and visitors could have a more enjoyable experience.  I understand hotels did benefit from officials and soccer teams staying in Hamilton

For me I like to experience foreign cultures and felt compelled to visit a local restaurant which has become a favourite, Culantro Peruvian Cookery.  We took our son on his last night and the owner/chef came to thank us.

A lot of money has been spent and now that two weeks of enjoyment are over what is left?  A few Olympic calibre buildings, an Athlete's Village that will open for residents, perhaps new traffic system that will improve the environment.  Did you get a chance to appreciate a little bit about our neighbours to the south?  We will be working with them more in the future and hopefully enjoying new relationships and new arts.

In Hamilton we did get an improved stadium and perhaps we learned a few things that will be useful when other opportunities come our way.  Bringing a GO station a little sooner will in the long run have a positive effect on the whole line.   Did we elevate anyone's opinion of Hamilton or Ontario?  Remember we had the opportunity to reach out to not only Ontario and Canada, but all of the Caribbean, Central and South America.  We shouldn't forget American visitors many of whom would find it easy to re-visit.  How good did we do?

I hope one way or another I can get a taste of Parapan Games that start in another week or so.   Way back in 1976 when the Olympics were held in Montreal I was involved in writing a book on basketball and although I was not able to make it to Montreal the Paralympics were held in Etobicoke and I made a few trips to better understand wheelchair basketball.  What I most remember was Arnie Boldt winning a gold medal and setting a world's record in a light rain.  it was astonishing to me and my wife what a one legged man could do.  I also remember one of the dominant wheelchair basketball teams came from Israel where it was explained they take very good care of their war veterans who suffered in military action.  The other brief connection I had with the Olympics was with the Olympic basketball qualifying tournament in Hamilton where I saw many games using a press pass.

PHOTOS:  Women's soccer action between Canada and Costa Rica
Terra Lightfoot with the National Academy Orchestra
Michael Davidson, Juan Castillo, the owner/chef of Culantro Peruvian Cookery and Heather Davidson