One of the greatest traditions in the world of sports in the presentation of the Olympic Games. It’s a celebration that brings together thousands of the world’s best athletes from countries all over the world to compete in hundreds of sports events to the delight of hundreds of millions of spectators. By all rights, it’s sport’s perfect storm. Welcome to your guide for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Brief History of the Olympics
The very first Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. The Olympic Games are held every four years with a different host country chosen by committee at least six years ahead of the applicable scheduled Games. Since the inception of the Olympics, the sports spectacle has only had to be cancelled on three occasions (1916, 1940, and 1944 Games) due to World Wars, along with two years (1980 and 1984 Games) when there was limited participation due to boycotts.
Through the years, the Olympics has brought the world some of the greatest moments in sports history as well as one of sport’s greatest tragedies with the killing of 17 Israeli coaches, athletes and Olympics official during a terrorist attack in 1972.
About the 2020 Olympics
The Olympics 2020, officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, are scheduled to take place from July 24 thru August 9, 2020 with all sports events to be held in sports venues located in the city of Tokyo, Japan. It’s noteworthy that preliminary events will be held for some sports beginning on July 22. The 2024 Olympic Games are scheduled to be held in Paris, France.
In all, there will be 37 sports represented with more than 400 events scheduled for which awards will be given to the best athletes. Awards will be presented in ceremonies as follows:
- Gold Medal for First Place
- Silver Medal for Second Place
- Bronze Medal for Third Place
While qualification events for participating countries are scheduled to begin in the Spring of 2020, it’s safe to estimate that 12,000 to 14,000 athletes from as many as 200 or more countries from all over the world will be participating in the 2020 Olypics.
Opening and Closing Ceremonies
The celebration of sport is set to begin with what always turns out to be the highlight of the Games, the spectacular opening ceremonies. The opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin in the early evening on Friday, July 24 (US time). The celebration begins with great entertainment as presented by the host nation. That’s followed by the ceremonial “Parade of Nations” with each participating country entering the primary 2020 Olympics sports stadium in front of a massive live crowd and TV audience. Each country will be lead by one of it’s top athletes bearing their nation’s flag followed by all of that nation’s remaining participating athletes. As is tradition, Greece will be the first country into the stadium. The official start of the Olympic in 2020 will be initiated by the lighting of the official Olympic cauldron.
When the books have been closed on all events, the world’s athletes will come together in brotherhood to say goodbye to the world in the closing ceremonies. The most touching moment of the closing ceremonies comes when the athletes enter the stadium as one group without country affiliation. The perfect end to the perfect sports celebration.
The Sports and Events
As indicated above, the list of Olympic sports 2020 will include the following 37 entries (in alphabetical order): Archery, Athletics (formerly know as Track and Field), Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Field Hockey, Football (soccer), Golf, Gymnastics, Handball, Judo, Karate, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Rugby Sevens, Sailing, Shooting, Skateboarding, Softball, Sport Climbing, Surfing, Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
With over 400 different events being held over the 2 1/2 weeks covering the entire span of Olympic Game 2020, both visiting fans and television audiences all over the world will get a chance to see the best in sports.
The most popular sports would arguably be Basketball, Gymnastics, Football (soccer), Track and Field, Tennis and Golf. The representative athletes is these and some of the other sports are among the best pro athletes in the world (more on that below). The competition will be fast and exciting as fans from countries all over the world will be rooting for their teams and local sports heroes.
The Athletes
Historically, the Olympics were confined to amateur athletes who were forced to comply with very strict regulations as set forth by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Under pressure to allow the best athletes in the world to participate in the Olympics, the IOC finally relented and started allowing participation by pro athletes in 1988. The move was commemorated by the USA basketball, The Dream Team, which featured many of the greatest basketball players in basketball history.
With the inclusion of pro athletes, the door was opened to bring more popular sports onto the Olympics roaster of events. The newer sports include Baseball, Tennis, Football (soccer) and Golf. There’s no arguing that the addition of these sports brought new life to the Games.
While this year’s Olympics 2020 sports are likely to feature many of the world’s top athletes, less emphasis is now being placed on the inclusion of the world’s best pro athletes. While it’s certainly an honor to represent one’s country of origin, the money has gotten so big in pro sports that many athletes now have to consider the risk of injury prior to deciding on participation.
How to Watch the 2020 Olympic Games
Visitors from all over the world are encouraged to fill out online applications for tickets to their favorite sports events. It’s worth noting that tickets to popular sports like Basketball, Football (soccer) and Tennis will be hard to obtain.
The goal of the IOC has always been to make available as many tickets as possible to the fans of each participating nation. All over the world, ticketing programs are in place to help sports fans in each respective country get the opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the world’s greatest sports spectacle. As for the opening and closing ceremonies, tickets will be hard to come by at this point in time. For fans that fail to secure tickets through ticketing programs, there’s plenty of ticket agencies that are currently offering tickets, though doing so at inflated prices.
Everyone who is planning to travel to Tokyo to experience the Games in person needs to be working now to secure accommodations. Tokyo is one of the most expensive countries in the world, which indicates patrons should expect to be willing to pay for the privilege of participation.
All of this should be of little concern to sports fans who have access to sports cable channels in their respective countries. The Olympics 2020 will be televised to almost every country in the world. There are plenty of websites available that offer information regarding event schedules.
For the unfortunate people who might have to miss their favorite events, information regarding events results will be available at https://www.xscores.com/.
Hopefully, the information listed above will serve you well as you make your own plans to enjoy the 2020 Olympics. After the dust clears on August 9 with the closing ceremonies, you can immediately start making plans to visit Paris for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.