The Hula Report: Athletes Under Pressure in Tokyo

(ATR)Like no other Olympics in history, athletes in Tokyo will be under a microscope, literally and figuratively.

Subject to multiple tests for coronavirus during their sojourns to Japan, the Olympians also will be saddled with huge hopes that their presence in Tokyo signals victory over the Covid-19 scourge.

The build-up has been unrelenting ever since the IOC decided to postpone the Games 14 months ago. President Thomas Bach has declared the Olympics in Tokyo as the "light at the end of the tunnel" for the world suffering from the pandemic. Bach and the IOC have not wavered from their belief that the Games can be a safe venture as long as athletes and officials mind the protocols of the Playbooks published for them and the media.

Now with foreign spectators barred from Japan and the possibility of no domestic spectators either, the Olympics in Tokyo will be the show of the athletes alone.

Despite being the stars of the event, Tokyo Olympians will compete against a backdrop of public opinion in Japan that deems the Games an unwelcome complication in the battle against the coronavirus. Regardless of the tales of sacrifice and persistence that will drape many Olympians, their inspiration will be dimmed if the Olympics lead to a new surge of infections in Japan.

The pressure on members of Japan’s team to the Games may be most acute. Eight years ago when Tokyo won the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics it was viewed as a chance for glory in front of adoring hometown fans. Today is has dissolved into a morass of protocols that will isolate all athletes from public contact.

Amidst all this comes the angst of Naomi Osaka.

The number-two female tennis player is on the mental mend at home in California after her fitful withdrawal from the French Open.

Declaring her fatigue with the press conferences required by rules of professional tennis and the toll those media encounters took on her mental health, Osaka said she would do none in Paris. She pulled out of the tournament after being fined $17,000. The 23-year-old winner of four Grand Slam titles has yet to say what this hiatus will mean for Wimbledon, which is the next tennis major. The Tokyo Olympics follow days later.

As the most famous Japanese athlete in the world, Osaka could be one of the stars of the Games, conflicted though she may be about moving ahead.

"No one will be prouder than me when I compete for Japan in the Olympics later this year," Osaka wrote recently. At the same time, she has also expressed doubts over whether the Olympics should take place in a pandemic.

Osaka, who has been mentioned as a possible flag bearer for the biggest ever Olympic team from Japan, obviously has much to think about in the weeks ahead. Regardless of whether she carries the rising sun flag, Osaka will carry the expectations of Japan on her broad shoulders if she decides to compete.

Osaka may take comfort that the bubbled-up world for athletes in Tokyo will minimize their contact with the media. On line press conferences will take the place of face-to-face encounters, though questions of the sort that vex Osaka (and other athletes) are still likely to be asked.

How many times can Osaka respond to the question of how it feels to compete for Japan? If she fails to win gold, questions that prompt soul searching are sure to follow.

Osaka may draw the most attention in Tokyo but thousands of other Olympians and Paralympians also will have to endure probing by the media next month. With the world longing to rid Covid-19, the Olympians will be judged not just for their performance. Their success in Tokyo may depend on whether they can truly lead us to the end of the tunnel.

No pressure.

Homepage photo of Team Japan's Tokyo 2020 uniforms: IOC

Reported by Ed Hula.