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This essay examines how Taiwanese national identity was performed on social media during the postponed Tokyo Olympics 2020. Taiwan achieved its best-ever medal tally, leading to the emergence of a new form of sport nationalism. Athletes' off-field behaviors, including diverse gender expressions, distinguished them not only from their Chinese counterparts but also from previous generations of Taiwanese athletes. Badminton, weightlifting, and table tennis athletes became the "proxy warriors” of Taiwan, showcasing the democratic and diverse nature of Taiwanese society. The Tokyo Olympics, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, became a battleground for ideologies, with the complex relationships among Taiwan, China, and Japan setting the backdrop for narratives. To depart from traditional research on official national discourses, this essay employs critical discourse analysis (CDA) by examining Facebook content and comments on news reports related to Taiwanese Olympians. This essays argues that Taiwan's cyber civil society has developed a flexible strategy to counter China's aggression on the internet. Taiwanese online mobilization demonstrated self-control, creativity, and adaptability, establishing a unique Taiwanese identity during the Tokyo Olympics in the midst of the pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of National Identities is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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Although the Olympics were meant to play a crucial role in pushing forward the growth of winter sports in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and bolster domestic and international support for its management of COVID-19, they also served as an arena for contesting the selection of Beijing as an Olympic host. The media analysis of the European coverage of the Games suggests that the United States (US) diplomatic boycott and the contestation of Beijing's approach toward human rights penetrated the European narrative of the 2022 Olympics. However, the decline in the coverage of these issues during sports performances shows that this contestation had a short lifespan.
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The Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics will go down in history as the 'Pandemic Games'. Postponed by a year due to Covid-19, they were eventually held despite broad public protest and amidst the Delta variant wave. Japan brought home a record haul of medals, yet Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide resigned in ignominy shortly after the Games ended. So, was Tokyo 2020/2021 a 'success' or a 'failure', and for whom? We examine the policy and politics of the Games, considering the attribution of 'success' and 'failure' to the Olympics across a range of issues, actors, and narratives. Reviewing their economic, public health, soft power, and political impact, we find that the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics remain deeply ambiguous. Prime Minister Abe Shinzō's vision of a proud, 'reborn' Japan showcasing itself to the world obviously did not come to pass;neither did the promise of a 'Recovery Olympics' aiding in the reconstruction of the post-3/11 Tohoku region. Conversely, the predictions of a COVID-19 catastrophe, of even an 'Olympic variant', also failed to transpire. Rather, the Olympics became a pared-down event forced through by vested interests, notably the IOC and Dentsu. The political fallout was contained by one-party dominance in Japan's democracy, where even a forced mega-event during a pandemic was insufficient to threaten the Liberal Democratic Party's stranglehold on power. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Olympic game is a prestigious ceremony that occurs after every four years. However, due to the spread of coronavirus in 2020, the game was held in 2021, which is post-Covid. The main aim of this research is to find out if there was a difference in the performance of nations in Rio 2016 Olympics (pre-Covid) and Tokyo 2020 Olympics (post-Covid). Statistical analysis is carried out to find the correlation between the different variables. One of the highly correlated variables (Gold Tally) is removed while performing the classification analysis. The idea is to see if the classifiers are able to do the comparative analysis without it or not. The classification algorithms utilized in this research are Decision Table, Decision Tree, Naïve Bayes, and Random Forest. The datasets used in this research are imbalanced sets, which were later transformed to balance sets through under-sampling. Random Forest was able to give 100% accuracy in both datasets whereas the True Positive Rate (TPR) was also 100%. After doing the comparative analysis it was found that irrespective of pre and post-Covid, the performance of athletes did not change. This paves the way for other researchers to investigate if Covid had any impact on the performance of the athletes or not. In the future, more vast variables will be investigated to do a more detailed comparative analysis. © 2022 IEEE.
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The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics took place when American public opinion about China was already predominantly negative as media reports had a lot of highlights of human rights violations happening in China. Besides, earlier, the global image of China was undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we explored whether American public opinion about the Olympics and China can be influenced by images of the Olympics shared in the media. Findings from the 2 × 2 between-subject experimental design suggest that the opinions about the Olympics can be predicted by people's beliefs about China's role in the global pandemic. In addition to that, our findings suggest that pre-existing opinions and feelings held by most of the population can mitigate the effects of visual primes. © The Author(s) 2023.
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The pandemic of the COVID-19 has forced various sport organizations to postpone or cancel sport events. The current investigation provides a rapid analysis of public perceptions of (1) postponement and cancelation decisions made by sport organizations, and (2) whether the Tokyo Olympics 2020 should be held in July 2020. Data from Japanese citizens (n = 529) show that approximately 75% supported postponement decisions made by professional sport leagues. Surprisingly, only fewer than 50% supported the cancelation decision of the high school baseball tournament (i.e., Spring Koshien). Regarding the Tokyo Olympics, 35.2% disagreed with holding the games, which was almost identical to those who were in favour of holding it (35.3%). The government and decision-makers should recognize the potential biases in public opinions and prioritize the scientific evidence to protect the health of the community. (Note: The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics 2020 was postponed after the completion of this study).
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The Chinese Communist Party and its supporters are increasingly using social media platforms to shape China's public image. This online image is a means of strengthening domestic nationalism and of projecting "soft power” abroad. This paper examines various forms of anti-Westernism that are central to this image-making. It analyzes several recent topics—the Belt and Road Initiative, climate change, the COVID-19 vaccine, the Beijing Olympics, and the conflict in Ukraine—on the r/Sino subreddit page of Reddit and compares them with two online news outlets, the South China Morning Post and China Daily. The paper focuses on how these media frame the contest between a rising China and a failing West, so creating a discourse that competes with the negative portrayals of China outside the country. The paper contrasts the aggressive strengthening of China's image against the West on social media with more sober accounts of the same topics in China's official media and in commercial news outlets. The contribution of the paper is to document an emerging online anti-Westernism that is playing an increasing role in the changing geopolitical landscape. © The Author(s) 2023.
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The primary objective of this community-based participatory research is to explore the impacts of COVID-19 and the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on world-class and elite/international-class parenting and pregnant athletes. Participants in this study include 11 female and 10 male parenting and/or pregnant middle and distance runners. Combined, the participants have competed at 26 Olympic Games and 31 World Championships. Drawing on the general concepts of stressors and psychological resilience, we use thematic analysis to develop four themes to understand the stressors for world-class and elite/international-class parenting and pregnant athletes due to COVID-19 and the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: (1) lack of childcare support, (2) family planning, and (3) needing to stay away from sources of COVID-including their children. Despite the stressors identified in the aforementioned themes, we identified a fourth theme: (4) participants demonstrated adaptability to stress in spite of-or due to-their athlete-parent identities.
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Introduction: Among the 43 venues of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (OG) and 33 venues of Paralympic Games (PG) were held, the heat island effect was highly expected to cause heat-related illnesses in the outdoor venues with maximum temperatures exceeding 35°C. However, the actual number of heat-related illness cases during the competition was lower than that was initially expected, and it was unclear under what conditions or environment-related heat illnesses occurred among athletes. Object: To clarify the cause and factors contributing to the occurrence of heat-related illness among athletes participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Method: This retrospective descriptive study included 15 820 athletes from 206 countries. From 21 July 2021 to 8 August 2021 for the Olympics, and from 24 August 2021 to 5 September 2021 for the Paralympics. The number of heat-related illness cases at each venue, the incidence rate for each event, gender, home continent, as well as the type of competition, environmental factors (such as venue, time, location and wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT)), treatment factor and the type of competition were analysed. Results: More number of heat-related illnesses among athletes occurred at the OG (n=110, 76.3%) than at the PG (n=36, 23.7%). A total of 100 cases (100%) at the OG and 31 cases (86.1%) at the PG occurred at the outdoors venues. In the OG, a total of 50 cases (57.9%) occurred during the competition of marathon running and race walking at Sapporo Odori Park. Six of those, were diagnosed with exertional heat illness and treated with cold water immersion (CWI) at OG and one case at PG. Another 20 cases occurred in athletics (track and field) competitions at Tokyo National Olympic Stadium. In total, 10 cases (10.0%) were diagnosed with severe heat illness in the OG and 3 cases (8.3%) in the PG. Ten cases were transferred to outside medical facilities for further treatment, but no case has been hospitalised due to severe condition. In the factor analysis, venue zone, outdoor game, high WBGT (<28°C) and endurance sports have been found to have a higher risk of moderate and severe heat-related illness (p<0.05). The incidence rate and severity could be attenuated by proper heat-related illness treatment (CWI, ice towel, cold IV transfusion and oral hydration) reduced the severity of the illness, providing summer hot environment sports. Conclusion: The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic summer games were held. Contrary to expectations, we calculated that about 1 in 100 Olympic athletes suffered heat-related illness. We believe this was due to the risk reduction of heat-related illness, such as adequate prevention and proper treatment. Our experience in avoiding heat-related illness will provide valuable data for future Olympic summer Games.
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Events that attract worldwide attention, such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games and international exhibitions, have become easy targets for cyber attacks, and it is no longer rare to hear of reports of damage from such attacks. The Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 was held in 2021 after a oneyear delay due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and NTT, as a Gold Partner (Telecommunications Services), had the responsibility of managing the network infrastructure supporting the Tokyo 2020 Games, thus dealing with the threat of cyber attacks. This article describes how NTT-CERT (NTT Computer Security Incident Response and Readiness Coordination Team) of NTT Social Informatics Laboratories faced cyber attacks as the representative computer security incident response team of the NTT Group. © 2022 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.. All rights reserved.
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Due to the spread of COVID-19, the number of people who experienced the exhibits was less than planned. Nevertheless, we were able to deliver surprises and smiles to the participants at the venues where we could provide the experiences. We believe that these interactions with the advanced technologies of our laboratories, which are not normally accessible to the public, enabled many people to experience firsthand NTT's innovativeness. Going forward, we will continue to work on creating new experiences using ICT and connect people with each other. © 2022 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.. All rights reserved.
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This essay aims to document how world sport has changed since Covid. It is based on an ethnography conducted during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Using field research in Japan, it seeks to highlight the challenges in Olympics coverage going forward while also arguing that Covid has meant the media must be much more focused and knowledgeable to be able to cover the Games well.
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Introduction: The media coverage of high-profile sporting events can bring increased pressure to athletes' psychological wellbeing. There may be speculation regarding athletes' mental state before, during and after competition potentially impacting on both the athlete's wellbeing and public perception of the individual if a negative tone is attached to an article. As mental health understanding and literacy develop, media reporting of elite athlete mental health may contribute to shaping of opinions and help seeking behaviour. Thus, we have aimed to understand and analyse the tone and content of media reporting on a high-profile sporting event using qualitative methods to explore key aspects of the articles sampled. Methods: We selected two UK broadsheet newspapers available online (The Guardian and The Telegraph) and identified all text articles including the terms "Mental Health" and "Olympics" or "Paralympics" published between 23rd July 2019 and 30th November 2021. We selected articles relevant to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and including mental health as a subject. Relevant articles were read in full, and we conducted a thematic analysis to explore how mental health was portrayed. Results: 581 results were generated from our initial search. Following screening and removal of irrelevant articles, we had 95 articles for analysis. We identified four themes relating to portrayal of mental health: Pressure, impact of COVID, Lack of specific diagnostic terms, and athletes as humans. Conclusion: Media portrayal of mental health at the Tokyo Games was generally positive and portrayed athletes as relatable, inspiring, and "human" rather than superhuman. Reporting particularly focused on athlete-specific factors in mental health conditions and the pressures of high-level competition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Postponing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to the global outbreak of COVID-19 marks a unique moment in the history of the Olympic Movement. For the first time since the cancelation of the Olympic Games during both World Wars, the Olympics will not take place as scheduled. This unprecedented postponement strongly impacts the Olympic Movement. Although only the future can tell exactly, the Antwerp 1920 Olympics can offer certain historical insights. Exactly 100 years ago, the Antwerp Olympic Games were the first Olympics organized after World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic. Their value in terms of rising the Olympic Movement from its ashes is vital. Profoundly promoting its identity, newly introduced Olympic symbols then helped avoiding the collapse of the Olympic Movement. Acknowledged as the "Games Reborn", the Antwerp 1920 Olympics were strongly about recovery, helping to heal a wounded society. How could Tokyo 2020 fulfill the same role? (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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This study aimed to analyze the impact of hosting large events on the spread of pandemics, taking Tokyo Olympics 2020 as a case study. A risk assessment method for the whole organization process was established, which could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of various risk mitigation measures. Different scenarios for Games participants and Japanese residents during the Tokyo Olympics were designed based on the infection control protocols proposed by the Olympic Committee and local governments. A modified Wells-Riley model considering the influence of social distance, masking and vaccination, and an SIQRV model that introduced the effect of quarantine and vaccination strategies on the pandemic spread were developed in this study. Based on the two models, our predicted results of daily confirmed cases and cumulative cases were obtained and compared with reported data, where good agreement was achieved. The results show that the two core infection control strategies of the bubble scheme and frequent testing scheme curbed the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic during the Tokyo Olympics. Among Games participants, Japanese local staff accounted for more than 60% of the total in positive cases due to their large population and most relaxed travel restrictions. The surge in positive cases was mainly attributed to the high transmission rate of the Delta variant and the low level of immunization in Japan. Based on our simulation results, the risk management flaws for the Tokyo Olympics were identified and improvement measures were investigated. Moreover, a further analysis was carried out on the impact of different preventive measures with respect to minimizing the transmission of new variants with higher transmissibility. Overall, the findings in this study can help policymakers to design scientifically based and practical countermeasures to cope with pandemics during the hosting of large events.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Tokyo/epidemiology , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Pandemics/prevention & control , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
In preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, our hospital was responsible for accepting mainly media representatives, marketing partners, and other Games staff. Given that restricting our regular capacity to treat certain groups of patients could potentially result in social losses, to avoid this we made rigorous preparations for the entire hospital to accept Games-related patients. It was rational to set up a single 24-h contact point at the Emergency Department for making the decision on whether to accept the patient or not and for coordinating the patient's medical care. With respect to language support, International Health Care Center staffs were made available as interpreters on weekdays. Multilingual support was available all day via an application run on tablet devices. During a 67-day period, the hospital accepted 31 Games-related patients (mean age 43.4 years, male: female ratio 25:6). Eighteen patients were from Europe, 4 patients each were from North America and Asia, 2 each were from Central America, South America, and Africa, and 1 was from Oceania. The most common cause of visits was COVID-19, but none were severe cases. Other causes were diverse and included moderate and severe conditions. We summarized the challenges and experiences in handling Tokyo 2020 Games-related patients at a designated hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Summary Introduction The 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games (2020 Tokyo Olympics) was held in Japan during the pandemic of new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in 2021. Preparedness In 2016, the Academic Consortium consisting of 29 major medical associations (AC2020) was launched and undertook medical risk assessment, issuing statements, and disseminating manuals/guidelines, training materials through its website. Administratively, Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOC) was responsible for preparations inside the venue, while Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) was responsible for preparations on the last mile and around the venue. In response to the AC2020 recommendation, the TOC and TMG has set up the subcommittee for reviewing emergency and disaster medical systems for the games. Finally, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gave up accepting spectators from abroad and limited domestic spectators. The multi-organizational training was not systematically performed until just prior to the event due to the delay in deciding on the form of this big event. Results A total of 779,820 people participated during the entire period. The 316 patients were seen at hospitals including 53 COVID- 19 cases, and the patient presentation rate (PPR) was 2.4/1000. The COVID-19 cases in Japan increased as the games approached, and a major wave peak of the epidemic was observed during the games. Conclusion If MCI had occurred during the games, the current medical care system would not have been able to cope with such situation. We were walking on thin ice, but fortunately, we didn’t step out and drown in the water. Résumé Introduction Les Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de Tokyo 2020 (Jeux Olympiques de Tokyo 2020) ont eu lieu au Japon pendant la pandémie COVID-19 en 2021. Préparation En 2016, le Consortium Académique composé de 29 grandes associations médicales (AC2020) a été lancé et a entrepris une évaluation des risques médicaux, publié des mises aux points et diffusé des manuels/directives, du matériel de formation via son site Web. Sur le plan administratif, le comité d’organisation des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques de Tokyo (TOC) était responsable des préparatifs à l’intérieur du site, tandis que le gouvernement métropolitain de Tokyo (TMG) était responsable des préparatifs sur le dernier kilomètre et autour du site. En réponse à la recommandation AC2020, le COT et le TMG ont mis en place le sous-comité chargé d’examiner les dispositifs prévisionnels de secours pour les urgences et en cas de catastrophe pour les jeux. Enfin, les Jeux Olympiques de Tokyo 2020 ont renoncé à recevoir des spectateurs étrangers et ont limité les spectateurs nationaux. La formation multi-organisationnelle n’a été systématiquement effectuée que juste avant l’événement en raison du retard dans la décision sur la forme de ce grand événement. Résultats Au total, 779820 personnes ont participé pendant toute la période. Les 316 patients ont été vus dans les hôpitaux dont 53 cas de COVID-19, et le taux de présentation des patients (PPR) était de 2,4/1000. Les cas de COVID-19 au Japon ont augmenté à l’approche des jeux, et un pic de vague majeur de l’épidémie a été observé pendant les jeux. Conclusion Si un afflux de victimes s’était produit pendant les jeux, le système de soins médicaux actuel n’aurait pas été en mesure de faire face à une telle situation. Nous marchions sur de la glace mince, mais heureusement, nous n’avons pas dérapé et ne nous sommes pas noyés dans l’eau.
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Despite loose restrictions and a low mortality rate due to COVID-19, Japan faced the challenge of stabilizing its economy during the pandemic. Here, we analyzed how the Japanese government attempted to maintain a balance between the health of the population and the health of the economy. We used a mix of quantitative data, information from policy documents, and news agency publications. Features of the Japanese government's handling of the pandemic include the lack of constitutional authority to enforce a lockdown, the laxer restrictions compared with other countries in which citizens were advised only to exercise self-restraint and avoid close social contact, and the existence of expert panels that had only an advisory role. Our findings address the slow initial response of the government, which feared that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be canceled, and the increased testing when the Olympics were postponed, as well as the expansion of vaccination efforts after the Olympics. In addition, there was a targeted campaign to promote national travel to increase economic revenue in the tourism sector, but this led to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
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Doping analysis with a fast-turnaround-time reporting of 24/48 h is a "traditional" requirement for major competitions such as the Olympic Games, which require tremendously increased allocation of resources, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The "Closed-Loop" concept and operation mode established by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) provided a relatively isolated environment to non-Games-related civilians. To maintain this system, more than 200 persons were included as supporting crew of the laboratory with massive logistic resources allocated. The National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Beijing carried out the analysis mission of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. During the Winter Olympics, 3165 samples were analyzed, whereas during the Paralympics, 679 samples were analyzed. The workforce accomplishing this work was composed of 36 domestic analysts, 20 international experts from other World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratories, 61 university students with suitable majors, and 12 on-site instrumental engineers. This article summarizes the achievements from the laboratory's preparation phase; in-Game operational details such as instruments, methods, workforces, and facility; and the Quality Assurance measures to maintain the integrity and correctness of results reported to the Result Management Authority, with the effect of the pandemic and "Closed-Loop" situation during the whole process highlighted.
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The doping control analyses at the XXXII Olympic Games (July 23 to August 8, 2021) and the XVI Paralympic Games (August 24 to September 5, 2021) held in Tokyo, Japan, after a year of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic are summarized in this paper. A new satellite facility at the existing World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited Tokyo laboratory was established and fully operated by 278 staff, including 33 Tokyo laboratory staff, 49 international experts, and 196 Japanese temporary staff. The numbers of urine samples were 5081 (Olympics) and 1519 (Paralympics), and the numbers of blood samples were 1103 (Olympics) and 500 (Paralympics). The laboratory could prepare for analysis in advance using a paperless chain-of-custody system, allowing for faster turnaround time reporting. For the first time, a new polymerase chain reaction method for detecting erythropoietin (EPO) gene doping was used. The laboratory also analyzed blood samples for detecting steroid esters following the spotting of collected venous EDTA blood onto dried blood spot cards. Moreover, full-scan data acquisition using high-resolution mass spectrometers was performed for all urine samples, allowing for detecting traces of doping substances, which are not currently analyzed in the subsequent data processing. The presence of some prohibited substances was confirmed, resulting in 8 atypical findings (ATFs) and 11 adverse analytical findings (AAFs), including homologous blood transfusion (2 cases) and recombinant EPO in the blood (1 case), at the Olympics, whereas 2 ATFs and 10 AAFs were reported at the Paralympics.