Pandemic reminders everywhere

TOKYO — Like any other Olympics, the Tokyo Games created its share of indelible moments — runners lunging across the finish line, swimmers reaching for the wall, athletes standing on podiums with medals around their necks.

The most lasting images from the 2020 Games — held in 2021, of course — will be those that underline the once unimaginable circumstances surrounding them.

Reminders are everywhere that these will forever be remembered as the Pandemic Olympics.

A last-minute rule change allowed athletes to remove their masks for a podium photo-op with their medals, but the face coverings had to be quickly restored. Thus the awkwardness as American dressage riders Adrienne Lyle, Steffen Peters and Sabine Schut-Kery fiddled to get their masks back in place.

Masks, of course, are everywhere. Gymnastics judges eyed competitors carefully over top of them. British archer Bryony Pitman attached one to the arrows in her quiver. Volunteers at every Olympic venue have offered friendly assistance without being able to show guests their smile.

Disinfection has become an around-the-clock effort. Officials in gloves sanitize the volleyballs, wipe down the table tennis surface and spray down the corners of the boxing rings.

Signs of the strangeness remain even after the action stops in the form of discarded masks left on walkways and streets. Disinfection has become an around-the-clock effort. Officials in gloves sanitize the volleyballs, wipe down the table tennis surface and spray down the corners of the boxing rings.

Judges evaluate Asia D’Amato (AP/Gregory Bull) of Italy performing her floor exercise July 25 during the women’s artistic gymnastic qualifications.

Workers clean seats July 24 between softball games at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Yokohama, Japan. (AP/Matt Slocum) Liam Heath of Britain kisses his bronze medal Thursday in the men’s kayak single 200-meter final. (AP/Lee Jin-man)

A face mask is attached to the arrows of Britain’s Bryony Pitman on July 27 during the women’s individual eliminations. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino)

A member of the grounds crew rakes the sand July 27 before a men’s beach volleyball match. (AP/Petros Giannakouris)

A man wearing a protective face mask sits July 31 inside an empty Ariake Arena just before the start of a women’s volleyball preliminary round pool, a match between Japan and South Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. (AP/Manu Fernandez)

A steward uses a plastic glove and a cloth to disinfect a volleyball July 23 during a rehearsal for the start of the volleyball preliminaries at Ariake Arena. (AP/Frank Augstein)

Mikiko Andoh of Japan celebrates on the podium July 27 after winning the bronze medal in the women’s 59kg weightlifting event. (AP/Luca Bruno)