ED Bringing joy and hope

Athletes deeply impress world audience

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics ended with a low-key closing ceremony Sunday. The sporting event was delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and marred by some challenges. For starters, before the Games, the International Olympic Committee took flak for pushing for them to go ahead apparently to secure money. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also drew criticism for pressing for the event as a means to extend his stay in power.

The average new daily coronavirus infections surpassed 5,000 in Tokyo alone and 15,000 across Japan during the Olympics which attracted 90,000 athletes and officials from 205 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) even warned against the possible emergence of a new COVID-19 strain far more dangerous than the Delta variant during the Games.

Despite such a challenging situation, the athletes deeply impressed the worldwide audience as they displayed a high degree of passion and sportsmanship with the tears and sweat they shed. Korean athletes deserve acclaim for their decent competence, courage and friendship, helping the people feel rejuvenated though they were suffering fatigue and depression arising from the resurging pandemic and Level 4 social distancing measures.

Team Korea failed to achieve the results that had earlier been expected, finishing 16th with six gold, four silver and 13 bronze medals. This was seemingly a disappointing performance compared with the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games where they finished eighth with eight gold medals. Yet the domestic audience largely cheered the athletes on, a shift from their past tendency to slam underperformers. In return, the athletes managed to bring joy and hope back home.

The women's volley ball team enthralled most local fans. Though they failed to snatch a medal, they demonstrated a never-yielding fighting spirit until the last minute. In particular, team captain Kim Yeon-kyoung did her best to lead her team members. Given this, they displayed their utmost spirit and received praise despite their loss to Serbia in a match for bronze Sunday.

Praises also poured onto relatively obscure players in less popular sports categories. A 17-year-old sport climber Seo Chae-hyun got 40,000 viewers on a Naver live stream, finishing eighth overall. High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok set a new Korean record by leaping 2.37m, while Hwang Sun-woo placed fifth in the men's 100-meter freestyle swimming. Though they failed to capture medals, the nation applauded them and appreciated their potential in future games including the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Upon finishing fourth in the high jump competition, Woo said, “Happiness comes earlier should one admit the result earlier.” Such a remark might have often been subject to criticism in the past; yet many Koreans were impressed by his statement this time. Judoka Cho Gu-ham displayed the dignity of a loser by encouraging the gold medalist though he missed the top prize. The 24th Beijing Winter Olympics will kick off Feb. 4 next year. We hope future Olympics will be a stage for athletes to display real sportsmanship through fair competition.