Tokyo 2020: Success out of adversity
Postponed for a year by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese capital’s second Olympic Games yielded numerous benefits for sport, people and the city itself.
In an effort to use the Games as an opportunity to achieve a new evolution as a mature city, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government led multidimensional initiatives, both tangible and intangible, with a view to the post-Games legacies.
One aim of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad was to increase the rate of sports participation among the city’s residents to 70 per cent. By the end of 2022, Tokyo was within 4 per cent of achieving that target, thanks to taster events, sports months and extensive sports promotion activities and initiatives. Meanwhile, national programmes and campaigns such as “Let’s 55 GoGo” have boosted sports participation around the country, with Japanese citizens being encouraged to lead healthier lives.
Another factor in increased participation is the drive to make Tokyo one big “sports field” and create a barrier-free environment at its sports facilities and open spaces, allowing people of all ages and abilities to access sport. Major investment in new venues for Tokyo 2020 and the refurbishment of existing ones have helped make this possible. For example, the competition venues in the Tokyo Bay Zone offer more opportunities for residents, including the elderly and those with a disability, to try their hand at a wide variety of sports.
The search for Tokyo’s next generation of high-performance athletes is also under way. Sports classes and competitions have been organised to identify outstanding talent and support given to over 1,000 young athletes across the 31 Olympic sports.
The city’s volunteering culture has developed and grown, the aim being to create a more inclusive society in which people help each other. The Tokyo Volunteer Legacy Network provides a framework for supporting future volunteer efforts in the Japanese capital, with around 10,000 of the helpers who had lent their services at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games signing up for it. They now receive information on sporting and cultural events and have the opportunity to help out at them.
Unity in diversity was a core concept of Tokyo 2020, which saw further advances in gender equality, diversity and inclusion, all of which are key priorities for the Olympic Movement. A series of initiatives and measures informed by the spirit of the Olympic Charter were implemented, including the Tokyo Partnership Oath System, which certified civil partnerships filed by LGBTQ couples. Tokyo Pride House, which remains open, is front and centre of efforts to promote inclusiveness across sport nationwide.
More people with disabilities have been employed by the private sector, while steps were taken to make Tokyo’s transport system more accessible and barrier-free. Awareness was raised of human rights issues and strides made in giving women a more prominent place in Japanese society. Tokyo 2020 was the most gender-balanced Olympic Games up to that point, with women accounting for 48.8 per cent of the total number of athletes.
Tokyo 2020 sought to create a more sustainable society through public engagement initiatives, with more than 150,000 “Action and Legacy” activities being set up. These included national recycling campaigns that collected the metal and plastic used to create the 5,000 medals awarded to Olympic and Paralympic athletes and the podiums they stood on. The Games were entirely powered by renewable energies, and sustainability was a key feature of the construction of the new venues.
Thanks to the Games, Tokyo’s 14 million residents now have more green spaces to enjoy, an improved transport infrastructure, a better work/life balance, and the opportunity to lead healthier lifestyles.
The city was made more accessible by the creation of more than 400km of new bicycle lanes, and barrier-free facilities on its transport network, including step-free routes. Tokyo’s first fully flat-floor buses were introduced, along with wheelchair-accessible universal design taxis. These improvements did not go unnoticed. A post-Games survey revealed that 60 per cent of the city’s residents felt that accessibility had improved thanks to Tokyo 2020. As a result, the Japanese capital became a safer, more inclusive and smarter city.
Billed as the Recovery and Reconstruction Games, Tokyo 2020 saw continued support for the regions worst hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Their products and tourism industries were promoted and efforts made to dispel reputational damage. The Games also prevented memories of the disaster from fading away. For example, the torches used in the Torch Relay were made in part from aluminium recovered from temporary housing put up to shelter people made homeless by it.