An amazing experience — emphasis on ‘maze’

TOKYO — You’d think at your 12th Olympics you’d have figured out some basic maneuvers. Like plotting out beforehand exactly where the buses will be leaving from after the Opening Ceremonies.

But, alas, no.

My first Olympics was Lillehammer in 1994. I knew nothing and was lost constantly. Eleven Olympics and 27 years later, I’m not sure much has changed.

The Opening Ceremonies went on forever. When Naomi Osaka finally lit the torch, I packed up and headed out, hoping to quickly get on a bus, use the WiFi to file my column and get home to bed at a slightly normal hour. I confidently exited the way I came in, followed other media members, went in the direction of a pointed finger of a volunteer and … found myself in an area void of buses.

I wasn’t alone. There were about two dozen of us who had landed in the same dead end. The volunteers near us did not speak English. We did not speak Japanese. In other chaotic postceremony situations — hello Rio! — we could at least grab a taxi. But in a COVID state of emergency, the only taxis on the street were ones that had been prebooked.

We were directed by a friendly but ineffectual volunteer to go to one side of the stadium. No buses. But then a friendly and efficient volunteer walked us around to the other side of the stadium. By now more than an hour and a couple of miles of hoofing had passed.

Finally, we found the bus line. There were more than 1,000 media members in it. It was now 1 in the morning.

I confess, I cut the line. I slipped in behind a tall French photographer busy lighting a cigarette. We went through a Disneylandlike maze and finally boarded a bus at about 1:30 a.m. I connected to WiFi, finished writing, filed my story and in a moment of glorious timing that almost made up for all my other errors, the bus to my hotel was waiting at the transit mall.

Back to my hotel 2:30 a.m. Asleep by 3:30 a.m. Awoke determined to be sure to always know where I’m going for the next two weeks.

Fast forward to a few hours later at the water polo venue where I’m trying to get into the mixed zone area to speak with athletes. I find myself surrounded by 6foot tall women in bathing suits — in other words, on the wrong side of the barrier.

“You can’t be there,” a notsofriendly volunteer said.

I know. I’m just not sure how to get where I’m supposed to be, even after a dozen of these things.

Local motion

Highlighting performances of athletes with Bay Area ties at the Olympics:

Monica Abbott (Salinas), softball: Improved to 5-0 in her Olympic career by striking out 13 in a 2-1 win Sunday over Australia as the U.S. clinched a spot in the gold-medal game.

Kara Kohler (Clayton, Cal), rowing: Finished second in her quarterfinal heat of the single sculls, losing by 1.09 seconds to Ireland’s Sanita Puspure.

Maggie Steffens (Danville, Stanford), water polo: Scored five goals in the U.S. team’s rout of Japan, 25-4. Aria Fischer (Stanford) added four goals.

Alix Klineman (Stanford), beach volleyball: In her Olympic debut, teamed with April Ross to beat China’s Xue Chen and Wang Xinxin 21-17, 21-19.

Christen Press (Stanford), Alex Morgan (Cal), soccer: Each scored in the Americans’ 6-1 win over New Zealand.

Brody Malone (Stanford), gymnastics: Reached the allaround final as the top American, finishing 13th, in helping the U.S. to a fourth-place finish to qualify for the team finals behind Japan, China and Russian Olympic Committee.

Simone Manuel (Stanford), swimming: Swam the anchor leg for the bronze-winning U.S. team in the women’s 4x100meter freestyle relay.

Markus Schreiber / Associated Press A maze of cones lead people onto a bus at the main transport hub at the Olympics in Tokyo. Getting to and from events is often a confusing endeavor.