Games in China come with own problems
At two in the morning at International Stadium Yokohama, I got into a cab and began the trek to my Tokyo hotel.
“Excuse me,” the driver said, in the deferential way that is custom in Japan, “may I ask you a question? What event was happening here?”
I told him it was the gold-medal match for women's football. Canada had won on penalty kicks.
“Oh, penalty kicks,” he said. “Exciting.” And then a surprise: “That was Canada's first ever win in football?”
Yes, it was, I said. Never was I so confident that a driver would find my hotel. This man had done his homework.
Little interactions like these happened a fair bit during three weeks in Tokyo.
That's normal for an Olympics, but given that the international press arrived in Japan after weeks of stories about how the people of Tokyo were resolutely against the Games being held, the public attitude toward them didn't appear disdainful.
People formed long lines to take a photo with the Olympic rings near the National Stadium, the soldiers performing security duty would often say “Thank you for coming!” as they scanned bags and locals would occasionally wave and take photos of Olympic media buses, which — if we're honest — was probably not the best use of their time.
Yes, there was a protest outside the stadium on the night of the Opening Ceremony ... but the city seemed pleased to have us. Or maybe they were just being polite hosts.
Whether Tokyo 2020 was ultimately a good idea remains to be seen.
The biggest fear associated with the Games has so far not been borne out: Tens of thousands of foreigners came to the Japanese capital and a minuscule percentage of them tested positive for COVID-19 while here, thanks to a mix of negative tests before arrival, frequent testing while here, and separation from the public at large.
But the lag between infection and a positive test means that some of those same visitors could leave the city carrying the virus and not discover it until they are back home.
It will never be truly possible to measure the effectiveness of the Olympic bubble, because its inhabitants are now all dispersing.
Meanwhile, COVID cases in Tokyo increased sharply the entire time of the Games, despite a state of emergency that among other things barred fans from attending Olympic venues.
This was the most puzzling thing about being here: The residents of Tokyo seemed wholly indifferent to requests to stay at home and avoid public spaces. And they were just that: Requests. Sidewalks were busy, restaurants were open, electronic gambling parlours had plenty of patrons. Given that Japanese culture was supposed to be more conformist, this struck a Westerner as odd.
Why was no one following the rules? (To be fair, no one had any trouble with mask requirements.)
Local media said that residents simply had pandemic fatigue and they had escaped the worst of it before so weren't worried about the virus now.
But there was also the fact the federal government was urging residents to keep to themselves and stay home while literally welcoming travellers from around the world to a giant sporting event. Celebrating the Olympics while also stressing the danger of leaving the house is a tough look. So, there's a lingering question: If the COVID situation continues to worsen here, will Tokyo 2020 be indirectly to blame?
The early word from China is they will take no chances with Beijing 2022.
Reports suggest the Communist nation will enact harsh measures to ensure visitors are not carrying COVID-19, such as extended quarantines and vaccination requirements that might even include taking the Chinese-made vaccine.
Such limits on entry would also have the bonus, from the perspective of the ruling party, of keeping a bunch of nosy-parker foreign journalists out of the country. Kind of a win-win for them.
Entry restrictions are well down the list of potential problems with Beijing 2022, of course. There are the humanrights abuses of the minority Uyghurs and the awful optics of gathering to celebrate peace and sport while that is going on. There are two Canadians still imprisoned in China on bogus grounds and with little chance of a fair trial.
There are fears that athletes who speak out about social issues — which is increasingly a thing — will find themselves on the wrong side of Communist laws that do not care much for free speech.
Oh, and it also rarely snows in the region, which is tricky for a Winter Olympics. If we learned anything from Tokyo, it's that seasonal weather concerns should not be taken lightly.
We also learned that requests for people to be on their best behaviour will probably just lead to more and more requests that are less and less polite.
China, though, generally doesn't do requests.
The not-unreasonable fear is that a country that does not care much for personal freedoms will use the coronavirus as an excuse to host an Olympics entirely on its own terms and under its own conditions.
Will the Olympic committees of Western nations that have so far been cool to the idea of a boycott, remain so under those circumstances?
A pandemic Olympics that relied on the public to police themselves is almost over. The next pandemic Olympics is just six months away, and the policing will almost certainly be much more overt. sstinson@postmedia.com