Pictured Above: Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles withdrew from team competition this year.
Courtesy of Getty Images.
By Sofia Garcia Vargas
The 2021 Tokyo Olympic games have brought a lot of anticipation and excitement alongside unexpected confusion and division that spreads across borders.
As the first week of the games is underway, gold, silver and bronze victories are being celebrated, while in other cases, Olympic dreams are being crushed.
The chaos started with the pandemic, causing the event to be delayed over a year.
The Olympics were scheduled to start July 24 and end Aug. 9, 2020, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) postponed the event just four months before the start date.
The next setback came when it was announced that spectators would not be allowed in any event.
Just weeks before the Olympic opening ceremony, the Japanese government announced a new state of emergency for the country due to rising COVID-19 cases and the Delta variant. Limited attendance was already going to take place, however this security measure threw that possibility out the window.
Days leading up to the opening ceremony, Keigo Oyamada, one of the event’s music composers, was put in the spotlight as sources revealed that he bullied a disabled classmate in middle and high school.
As the countdown ticked closer to the start, and athletes arrived in Tokyo, more confusion arose.
After arriving in Japan, the Polish Swimming Federation sent six of their athletes home due to an administration error regarding the International Swimming Federation (FINA) qualifying standards.
Some of the athletes plan on taking legal action against the Polish Swimming Federation after the immense professional disappointment.
Frustrations closer to home include the suspension of Sha’Carri Richardson due to a positive result on a marijuana use test.
The 21-year-old Dallas athlete will be unable to compete in the 4 x 100 meter team relay and in the 100-meter individual race. Richardson openly admitted the test result and said that she used the drug as a coping mechanism following her mother’s death.
The latest upset in Team USA is the withdrawal of gymnast Simone Biles from the Olympic competitions on July 27. After completing an unstable vault routine, the 24-year-old gold medalist stepped out of the meet alongside a medical staffer.
Later, Biles said that her mental state disabled her from giving a high-standard performance and that she chose to prioritize her mental health, stating that, while competing in such a high profile event, “outside expectations were just too hard to combat.”
Despite the hardships, the Tokyo Olympics have not failed to deliver high-level competitions.
Some highlights include Serbia’s Ana Dabović’s reverse pass during a basketball game against Canada; two 13-year-olds, Japan’s Momiji Nishiya and Brazil’s Rayssa Leal, taking home medals in street skateboarding; and Costa Rica’s Luciana Alvarado making a debut as the country’s first Olympic gymnast.
