By Makereta Komai
The 2020 Olympics was a journey of many firsts for me personally – my first Olympic Games, my first quarantine lockdown under strict police presence and first international event where media access was heavily restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preparing for the travel was a mammoth task – I needed two negative swab tests, one each at 96 and 72 hours before leaving Fiji, a border pass to get through Wainadoi to get to Nadi International airport and a quarantine exemption from the New South Wales (NSW) State Government to exempt me from the mandated 14-day quarantine required for everyone entering Australia.
Arriving in Sydney, NSW State Police were on hand to escort me directly to the quarantine facility, an apartment close to the airport – where I was directed not to leave the room until my flight the following evening. Security officers were posted on all the floors of the seven storey up-market apartment – and the only time I was allowed to open the door was for meal delivery. Departing the quarantine facility, I was again escorted by two NSW police officers and directed to a separate check-in counter before security clearance. I later learnt that beyond the security check-in, the two NSW police officers handed me to an Australian Federal Police Officer, whose job was to escort me right to the door of the plane.
As if that were not enough – the arrival at Haneda International Airport was another experience. The set up for COVID-19 test for all arriving passengers was like manoeuvring a labyrinth – that took five hours of zig-zagging around departure gates and rooms cordoned off for various COVID-19 counter-measure checks, including a negative saliva antigen test to give you the green light to enter the country. A positive result would mean immediate 14-day isolation and medical treatment.
Once you enter the country, all your movements are monitored through a contact tracing app for the Games. All foreigners were required to collect their saliva sample daily, register the sample online using a barcode that came with the test kit, and deposit the sample at a designated drop-off point.
Media Playbook
To ensure a safe and successful Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee created a series of Playbooks for athletes and officials, administrators, media and broadcasters – that sets out the parameters of what could and could be done at the Tokyo Games.
Every journalist was required to submit a 14-day Activity Plan outlining coverage plan, games venue and interview schedules for the duration of the Games. If approved, the Activity Plan determined access to events, venues and athletes for the journalist. The journalist was not allowed access to anything outside the Activity Plan. Access to the Olympic Games Village was shut down to limit contact with athletes after cases of COVID-19 were detected from arriving athletes.
For Games access, The Playbook required online booking 12-24 hours prior to the start of the event before access was granted. This was one of the major challenges faced by journalists particularly from small island countries, like us in the Pacific – where priority was given to major international television networks and newspapers for most of the events. However, media access to the rugby competition was not an issue – obviously with three countries in Oceania – Fiji, Australia and New Zealand defending their medal titles at the Olympics, I was able to cover the men and women’s competition, without any hassle.
Transportation to and from competition venues was another major hindrance – especially when you are not allowed to use public transport during the first 14 days on the ground. Official transport was only limited to permitted destinations and venues – leaving most journalists to cover their own transport costs to venues and events that were not on the official list of free transport.
Team Oceania at Tokyo 2020
Labelled as ‘Oceania’ in IOC continental groupings – the group represents 17 countries and territories in the Pacific including Australia and New Zealand.
Through a shared services programme provided by ONOC, 15 National Olympic Associations (NOCs) were able to access training camps, meeting rooms, shared transportation, a recovery hub and medical services at the Olympic Village. Tokyo 2020 was the third Summer Olympics where the Oceania Continent showcased the true Pacific Way of friendship and cooperation through its signature Shared Services Programme where pooling of resources and skills support athletes at competition.
In Tokyo – Oceania athletes also created their own history and legacy!
Fiji’s men and women’s sevens rugby team won gold and bronze medals respectively – the men’s team with a back-to-back gold medal win after Rio in 2016. The women’s Fijiana team, placed eighth in Rio fought their way to beat defending champion Australia in the quarter finals only to lose to eventual winner, New Zealand in the semi-final, and beat Great Britain 21-12 in the bronze medal play-off. The podium finish for the Fijianas is expected to inspire and transform a generation of young girls and women in sport in Fiji and the Pacific.
Papua New Guinea’s top woman weightlifter, Dika Toua also created history and left her legacy in the sport – competing in her fifth Olympics, bowing out at 10th place to a field of 14 strong lifters. Toua is not new to making history at the Olympics. In Sydney at the 2000 Games she became the very first female to participate in Olympic weightlifting. At 37, Toua is considered one of the Pacific’s most successful lifters, with 21 years of competitive weightlifting at both regional and international level to her name.
Two of New Zealand’s most decorated female Olympians – Lisa Carrington (canoe sprints) and Dame Valerie Adams (shot-put) also flew the Oceania flag high during the Games. Carrington, now NZ’s most decorated and celebrated Olympic athlete, returned home with 20 medals – seven gold, six silver and seven bronze. Dame Valerie, who returned to competitive sport after having two children, won a bronze medal, her fourth in five Olympics. Dame Valerie said she hoped her podium finish will inspire female athletes around the world that they can still get back to top level competition and win, after giving birth.
A number of young and upcoming female Olympians from Oceania were in action in Tokyo – breaking personal and national records, displaying potential for medal contention at the next Olympics.
Female Olympians who made their debut in Tokyo and recorded improved best performances are weightlifters: Kuinini Manumua (Tonga), Nancy Abouke (Nauru), Mary Lifu (Solomon Islands), judoka Kinaua Biribo (Kiribati), taekwondo Malia Paseka (Tonga), marathon runner Sharon Firisua (Solomon Islands), swimmers Cheyenne Rova (Fiji), Judith Meauri (PNG), Ossisang Chilton (Palau), Taeyanna Adams (FSM), high jumper Rellie Kaputin (PNG), sprinter Regine Tugade-Watson (Guam) and women wrestler Rckaela Aquino of Guam.
Similarly, male Oceania Olympians to watch out for in the coming years and already eyeing the Commonwealth Games next year and Paris 2024 are sprinters Banuve Tabakaucoro (Fiji), Ronald Fofofili (Tonga), Scott Fiti (FSM), Adrian Illilau (Palau), Jonah Harris (Nauru), Latasi Mwea (Kiribati), Karalo Maibuca (Tuvalu), 800m athletics Alex Beddoes (Cook Islands), swimmers Ryan Maskelyne (PNG), Tasi Limtiaco (FSM), boxers Ato Plodzicki Faogali (Samoa), Marion Ah Tong (Samoa), judokas Hugo Cumbo (Vanuatu), Peniamina Percival (Samoa), Andrew Joshter (Guam), Tevita Takayawa (Fiji), discus thrower Alex Rose (Samoa) and rower Riilio Rii of Vanuatu.
Tokyo 2020 was the first ever gender-balanced Olympic Games in history, almost 49% of the athletes that competed were women, according to the IOC quota allocation. For the first time, all 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) were required to include at least one female and one male athlete in their respective Olympic teams.
Mental Health Awareness Games
Apart from COVID-19 restrictions, the empty stands and tough competition during the two weeks of the Tokyo 2020 Games, another element to go down in the history books will be athletes using the world games to speak out about mental health awareness in sports. Sparked by the withdrawal of U.S gymnast Simone Biles from the women’s team final and earlier on Japanese tennis star, Naomi Osaka, who publicly admitted her own struggles with mental health, all across the Games, athletes from a wide variety of sports were publicly talking about the importance of mental health.
It was as if Biles flipped a switch and shone a light on something that had always been there, just outside of the public view, reported the Japan Times.
Learnings
Given the logistical challenges and the risks of contracting COVID-19 in a major global sporting event with over 80,000 athletes, officials, administrators and media –one very useful resource set up by the IOC and local organisers was a one-stop information and news portal that was constantly updated with the latest results, news, live updates and coverage of most of the events on a daily basis. The portal included background information on all the 11,000 athletes competing in the Games – their sporting achievements, qualification, best national, regional or world records. This was a useful resource and background information that journalists were accessing daily for their reports and articles since access and movements were limited during the Games. Pooled and credited images were also made available for journalists use.
Covering the Tokyo Games for athletes from 15 Pacific countries is not an easy job. It requires contacts and networks to help keep tab on all the athletes competing. With assistance of the ONOC Communications Team, I was able to establish contact with chief de missions (CdMs) of all Pacific countries and access updates on Pacific athletes competing on a daily basis through the social media tool WhatsApp. It was an effective and faster way to communicate results and images to the Communications Team who were compiling daily reports and updates from the Olympic Games and disseminating them to media organisations, stakeholders and partners throughout Oceania region.
Makereta Komai is the editor of Pacnews and covered the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
