Off-script Olympics: Wins, losses, and a whole lot of improv

TOKYO – Every 2 years, erstwhile an Olympics convenes, its organizers harness billions of dollars to marque definite the full matter is tightly, cautiously scripted, clearing the mode for 1 realm — and 1 realm lone — to beryllium genuinely unpredictable: the athletes' performances and, by extension, the results of the events successful which they compete.

It ne'er rather works retired that way, of course. Be it drugging oregon diplomatic incidents, atrocious behaviour oregon governmental upheaval, the lawsuit seldom unfurls successful precisely the mode the International Olympic Committee truthful fervently hopes. But adjacent viewed done that prism, this Pandemic Olympics has been the astir off-script Games successful history.

“This isn’t a communicative that fits our society’s tendency to person implicit humanities discourse by the clip we refresh our phones,” NBC’s Mike Tirico said a week into Japan's 4th Olympic Games.

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It was delayed by a devastating pandemic for an full year, to the constituent wherever they're inactive referring to an Olympics held successful 2021 arsenic the “2020 Tokyo Games” — different motion to almighty scripts that defy overturning. Cascading resignations — owed to everything from fiscal corruption to bullying to intersexual harassment — plagued the organizing committee.

Three of the world's best-known athletes — Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic — didn't extremity up doing anyplace adjacent what they were expected to bash successful Tokyo, and the ensuing (and productive) conversation astir affectional health, intelligence unit and learning however to instrumentality attraction of one's aforesaid suffused the remainder of the Games.

If the Olympics is, arsenic they similar to say, 1 of the planet's biggest stages, determination was a batch of improv going on.

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It was jarring, and understandably so, adjacent beyond the spectatorless stands. The sharply drawn communicative of winners and losers has fueled Olympic storytelling for generations — either-or storylines lone occasionally interrupted by eruptions and controversies. But this clip around, the storylines seemed some much subtle and a batch much disruptive.

That possibly says little astir the Olympics than it does astir the times successful which we unrecorded — a confusing, complex, intricate epoch that resists casual solutions arsenic overmuch arsenic it is filled with radical who privation to enforce them.

Consider the United States, a cardinal Olympic subordinate that has trended toward binary reasoning for astir of its history. For Americans, sometimes to their detriment, things historically often travel down to achromatic oregon white, yes oregon no, winners oregon losers. There’s often a beardown aversion to seeing and discussing shades of grey.

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Most American big-media storylines travel that sensibility — peculiarly erstwhile it comes to the sharply drawn sum of an Olympic Games, which sometimes tin lucifer a bustling mill for churning retired heroes.

That anticipation for hero-making is revealed successful this endearing remark from U.S. jock Isaiah Jewett, who picked up Botswana's Nijel Amos aft they some fell successful the semifinals of the men's 800-meter. “All the superhero anime that I watch," Jewett said, "regardless of however huffy you are, you person to beryllium a leader astatine the extremity of the day.”

And for what helium did, helium became one. But what helium said besides reflected that American and Olympic committedness that sharp, epic endings correspond the champion and astir memorable outcomes. So erstwhile thing similar these Olympics – and, frankly, this epoch successful wide – comes hurtling astatine radical weaned connected binary storytelling, things tin get confusing.

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Look astatine NBC, wherever surely producers were asking immoderate signifier of this question: How bash you deploy a half-century-old architecture of telling network-television sports stories that’s built for winners and losers and usage it for a much subtle acceptable of storylines similar intelligence wellness and coronavirus fearfulness that don't needfully person chiseled outcomes?

Nuance doesn't needfully adjacent viewership. In general, the prevailing sentiment runs much toward what 13-year-old Japanese skateboarder Momiji Nishiya said aft getting her gold: “I privation to beryllium the celebrated 1 who everyone successful the satellite knows."

If you look astatine what went disconnected the scripted rails astatine these Games, though, it's lone just to look astatine what stayed connected publication arsenic well. After all, managerial occurrence is measured — oregon should beryllium — not lone by what happens but by what doesn’t. And adjacent wrong this jumbled vale of Olympic unpredictability, it's worthy noting wherever the publication endured.

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There has been nary large outbreak of COVID wrong the Olympic bubble, which was organizers' top fear. In fact, since July 1, hardly much than 400 Olympic-related COVID cases person been documented retired of tens of thousands of tests — adjacent arsenic the state astir the Games declared progressively wide states of exigency to offset alarming spikes successful microorganism numbers.

The 1 governmental eruption — the defection-like flight of Belarus sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to Vienna, past Poland, erstwhile she felt she was nether menace — was little disarray and much crisp reasoning connected behalf of Japanese authorities, who interceded erstwhile officials from the country's Olympic committee tried to hustle her connected a level home.

And successful the speech astir intelligence wellness that emerged aft Biles' winding Olympic road, the IOC not lone tolerated but adjacent fostered further scrutiny of the issue, portion of what cleared the mode for athletes to travel guardant and marque the intricate and profoundly idiosyncratic taxable an indelible portion of the Tokyo 2020 script.

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For Tokyo successful mid-2021, possibly “Tokyo 2020” was, successful fact, the pitch-perfect moniker. Because these were, successful the end, a Games that, if they didn't travel the Olympics' script, followed 2020's perfectly — fearfulness and illness and suspicion each around, curveballs galore, unimaginable obstacles to overcome.

And, conscionable similar the storyline of 2020, tons of bully worldly betwixt it each that managed to radiance through. A modern Hollywood ending, if you will.

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Ted Anthony, manager of caller storytelling and newsroom innovation for The Associated Press, was AP’s manager of Asia-Pacific quality from 2014 to 2018. This is his sixth Olympics. Follow him connected Twitter astatine http://twitter.com/anthonyted

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.