First up, the new sports. Every Olympics,
new ones can get added.
But when was the last time they were
this cool? Skateboarding,
surfing, sport climbing, karate, baseball
and softball. It's part of a plan by the
International Olympic Committee
to make the games more appealing to
younger people.
And Sky Brown can probably help with
that.
At just 13 years old,
Sky is a skateboarding prodigy and a
medal contender for Great Britain.
And there are no age restrictions in
skateboarding so you've also
got South Africa's Dallas Oberholzer,
who's 46.
So it's a pretty big deal
when new sports are included in the
Olympics.
It's almost like a seal of approval.
It's the same for karate. And the fact
that it's debuting in Japan
is extra special.
But of course there's still a pandemic
going on, which brings us to our second
thing you need to know —
there are lots of COVID-19 restrictions.
It means the games are going to look and
feel really different.
There's a whole playbook of dos and
don'ts for athletes —
70 pages of rules about testing, mask
wearing and travel logistics.
No hugging or handshakes. And no hanging
around in Japan once your event is done.
But the biggest change – none of this.
And more of this.
The Japanese government recently
declared a state of emergency in Tokyo
after COVID-19 cases started climbing
again.
Spectators are banned from the venues in
and around the capital
although in other parts of the country
venues can be filled to 50%
capacity with a cap of 10,000 people in
the stands.
To call it disappointing is probably the
gold medal of understatements for sports
fans
and for some athletes who won't be able
to feed off the crowd.
And there's something else to factor in
this year, and this is the third thing
you need to know.
There's been a lot of opposition from
the Japanese public.
Back in May, a poll showed that 83%
of people wanted the games
cancelled
or postponed, although more recent polls
show that number is down to around 30%.
People are worried about what the
Olympics mean for the spread of COVID-19.
Even without spectators you're still
talking something like
90,000 people travelling to Japan from
more than 200 countries.
And at the beginning of July less than
10% of Japan's population was
fully vaccinated.
But in the end Japan had a really tough
decision to make.
There are billions of dollars at stake.
If you count up all the money spent on
venues,
sponsorship and partnership deals, media
advertising
and add the extra cost of postponing the
games, these are looking like the most
expensive Olympics in history.
So basically hardly
any fans, lots of Japanese people annoyed
that it's happening at all
and there are major concerns about COVID.
But
it's the Olympics. Let's not
underestimate the power of these
athletes to inspire us
and take us on a wild ride. Here are some
to watch out for:
Top of the list, American gymnast Simone
Biles.
And the big question — will she attempt
the Yurchenko double pike vault?
The what?
In other words it's a
supremely difficult move
and Biles is the only female gymnast to
ever land one successfully in a
competition.
She did that in May.
Others on the watch list
include Japan's Naomi Osaka — she's
returning to tennis after she took a
break to look after her mental health.
There's Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, described
as the best
marathoner ever. Laurel Hubbard, from New
Zealand, who can lift more than 150
kilogrammes over her head
and is the first openly transgender
Olympian.
And while we're talking inspiring
athletes, the refugee team is back this
year
after making their debut at Rio 2016.
They're a team of 29 men and women
who've all had to leave their homes
under duress to find
a new place to live and train. There's
the sport shooter Luna Solomon, who
escaped from Eritrea.
Syrian boxer Wessam Salamana and Iranian
taekwondo athlete
Dina Pouryounes.
The thing about
these games is whatever the issues
around them, whether that's politics,
money or even a pandemic, it's about the
hopes and dreams of so many people.
The mood in Tokyo now seems to be, let's
be safe
and do our best. And maybe that's what
the Olympic spirit
is all about.
You can catch our coverage of the
Olympics over on aljazeera.com and you
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