INTO THE UNKNOWN
Wednesday, July 28th
By James O’Brien
The unknown can be an intimidating place to visit. Eyes closed, head down, no idea of what lies ahead – it’s not a comfortable place to be. Some people say they love it; but, they’re usually talking about never having tried the skinny frappachino at Starbucks or taking the M60 bus to La Guardia. I do get that; but, to me, heading to an Olympic Games half way around with world in a country, reportedly not enamored with having those Games, and with so many arrangements not clearly defined in advance…well, I confess, it engendered some trepidation.
In the days before leaving, so many people asked me to let them know how the whole experience went. So, I will use this space to offer some degree of explanation, not least because I could not get to a competition venue immediately upon arrival today due what we may call “process.” There is always a process in attending an Olympic Games. It can be convoluted and a little challenging at times; but, generally it’s manageable. This time around, let’s just say that the process is a whole different animal, one that needs feeding like a wildebeest on the veldt. (For example, media attendance at venues needs to be booked 24 hours in advance; but the booking app does not work until arrival in Japan. It’s….the process).
I do understand that, in the midst of a global pandemic, in a country largely in lockdown, to manage tens of thousands of visitors is a monumental challenge – headache may be a better word. In Japan, where technology is king, possibly it was inevitable that the structure underpinning the entire process would be app based. In fact, apps and acronyms. Prior to leaving the US, I downloaded five separate apps, all serving different purposes; I’m not entirely sure what. At the airport, upon my arrival, a charming young lady installed another one on my phone. So now six, the purpose of most of which I am unsure: but they all carry names like ICON and COCOA and OCHA and they link to web sites for things such as ADA where I am registered as a CLO, or at least so says my FA. Thankfully, all of the young and very helpful volunteers at the airport – and there were legions of them – understood everything at several levels above my ken; and so, with plentiful nodding on my part and much scrutiny of my inch-thick folder of documents on theirs, the process, while lengthy (two hours) was reasonably pain free and conversational.
Most times, the conversation went along these lines:
“Have you got OCHA fully installed?”
“No.” “Have you got a print out of the QR code?”
“No.” “Have you got COCOA activated?”
“No.”
And so on.
In fact, the same conversation several times at several different stopping points in the airline terminal. While I had little idea what it was all for, it did explain the delays of up to seven hours that others had experienced during the peak arrival times last week. Having secured entry into the country, it was gratifying to know that my hotel was just outside the airport. This time, however, I knew exactly what was going to happen. I’ve been through this part of the process many times before. The media bus will take arriving journos – three of us, in this instance, one from Greece, one from Uruguay and me – from the airport to the media transportation mall, from whence we can get another bus to our various hotels. No choice in that matter. So, half an hour on the bus to the MTM (more acronyms), 50 minutes standing in the blazing sun, to get another bus half an hour right back to just about where I had started. But, some things you just have to accept; it’s the unknown in this circumstance that is the challenge.
For example, I’m still unsure of the whole process for COVID testing that, supposedly, has to be done every day for the first three days. And the procedure for reporting those results. But those are challenges for tomorrow, which I will resolve before going to see the US men’s water polo team playing Italy and the women’s team foil competition, featuring the NYAC’s Nicole Ross (provided they have advanced through the morning’s qualifying rounds. Fingers crossed). More unknown. A daily schedule is a mere fantasy at an Olympic Games, given that everything depends on a competitive outcome that is always in the balance. The only certainty is that nothing is certain.
That has been taken to new level at these Olympic Games, although there is one other certainty – that the competition will be Olympian. Tomorrow, I will be figuring out how to witness and report on as much of it as possible. I hope you will check our micro-site for all the latest news: www.NYACTokyo2020.com. Visit often!