Across the Pacific: teamwork makes the dream work

Complications from the virus, multiple layers of complex and sometimes shifting government bureaucracies and more? “This was,” said Rick Blas, ONOC Secretary General, “a challenge for our region.” The solution: teamwork and, among other things, a Nauru Airlines 737.

“It’s the Olympic family,” Blas said. “You try to make sure you’re there for the right reason and the right thing. I thought we were doing that.”

Blas — you’ll find him in Olympic histories as Ricardo — competed for Guam in judo’s heavyweight category in the Olympic Games Seoul 1988. Today, he’s the President of Guam’s NOC and, moreover, was recently re-elected to a second term as ONOC Secretary General.

With just weeks to go before the Tokyo Opening Ceremony, word went out that it was imperative for every NOC to have an athlete delegation at the Games. Indeed, it’s rule 27.3 of the Olympic Charter (“each NOC is obliged to participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes”). The rule took on added significance in Tokyo because of the pandemic.

Around ONOC, some athletes had been stranded outside their home countries. At least one government was strongly considering pulling out on the grounds that if athletes went to Japan, it would be problematic getting them back. Some were facing triple-cost ticket prices.

In the Olympic Movement, relationships are, well, everything. The IOC message to ONOC at the time made obvious the great relationship between the two: “Do all that is necessary [to bring athletes from all your NOCs to Tokyo]. If you run into any roadblocks, please let us know immediately and we will do our utmost to assist you where we can...”

And so the IOC did, with half a million dollars.

Within ONOC, great relationships also played a fundamental part.

Blas’ first call was to Marcus Stephen, a three-time Olympian in weightlifting (1992-2000) and 1999 world championships silver medallist, President of the NOC of Nauru (since 2009), President of Nauru (2007-2011), since 2019 speaker of the Nauru Parliament. Could we, Blas said, charter a plane? Stephen said, let’s call Dr Keke next.

— Dr Keiren Keke is Vice-President of the NOC of Nauru, former Minister of Foreign Affairs

Also:

— Tenoa Betene, Secretary General, NOC of Kiribati

— Elu Tataua, Secretary General, NOC of Tuvalu

— Martin Rara, President, NOC of the Solomon Islands

— And, of course, ONOC President and IOC member, Dr Robin Mitchell of Fiji

Mitchell’s role? Official letters to the governments of Nauru, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands regarding Games health and safety protocols. Keke, as it turns out, along with being one of the few physicians in his country, is also Chairman of Nauru Airlines.

Could one of its passenger 737-300s be chartered to Tokyo? Adding to the complexities, Keke was at the time in Brisbane, Australia, attending to a family matter. All the same, Keke said — leave it to me.

Now, in about a week and a half, came a plane and a plan: a charter would pick up a first delegation in the Solomons; then another in Tuvalu; then fly to Nauru. From there the rest would board, to fly to Tokyo.

Blas, meanwhile, already in Japan, was sent pictures of those on board and the required vaccination certificates.

But wait. Another hiccup. The charter landed in Palau, to refuel. Was there a pre-arranged agreement to land in Japan? No. Now there had to be an emergency appeal to the Japanese authorities to allow the plane to land in Tokyo.

As everyone knows now, 205 nations — plus the IOC Refugee Olympic Team — marched in the Tokyo Opening Ceremony.

Ultimately, all those in the vast Pacific got home from Tokyo, too. But that is a different story, laden with perhaps even more complexity, more bureaucracy. “I’m glad,” Blas said with a smile, “it’s over.”