Timber frames and heat waves: Tokyo is a sign of the times

The 2020 Olympics were one of the greenest - and warmest - games to ever be held in the modern era

Image courtesy of Unsplash

There's nothing quite like the Olympics. A two-week display of strength, focus, endurance and belief as thousands of athletes compete together, while spectators around the world, cheer, scream, cry and smile at the efforts of their team, of history being made.

We knew Tokyo would be different, being hosted a year later than planned and without crowds for the athletes to feed off. But even so it didn't fail to deliver. World records were broken, new sports made their debut, and the spirit of the Olympics echoed around the stadiums, through our T.Vs and smartphones and into households around the world.

These games will certainly never be forgotten. And if not for the empty seats and masked medal ceremonies, then for the conditions some athletes had to perform in. Because it was hot.

With temperatures reaching 35 degrees during some competitions, athletes were faced to perform in some of the toughest conditions the games have seen.

Skateboarding saw athletes competing in a concrete park that reached highs of 30 degrees before midday. The triathlon began at 6:30am, but the water was already the same temperature as the skate park while athletes completed the 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run in an average temperature of 27 degrees.

Sifan Hassan won a bronze and two golds in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m races, but a handful of athletes dropped out during the latter due to the heat. Hassan won in just under 30 minutes, before immediately calling for water, images showing her lying in the shade with ice packs on her feet, hands and neck.

“If I die, who’s responsible?” Was Daniil Medvedev’s question after struggling to breathe and see during a match at the Ariake Tennis Park. With other players suffering heat strokes as matches were played from 11am, they were eventually moved to a 3pm start.

Records show Tokyo’s temperatures have risen by three degrees since 1900, the city hosting the event in October in 1964 to avoid their scorching summers. But the International Olympics Committee now ask that the games are held between 15 July and 31 August to attract a larger audience. It’s safe to say these dates may be a talking point in the lead up to Paris 2024, for the benefit of the athletes if nothing else.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Due to the size of the games it can be difficult to make any kind of positive environmental impact, but Tokyo showed reinvention and demonstrated new ways of putting on a global event, which makes the athlete’s achievements even sweeter.

The opening ceremony kicked off the theme of sustainability with five wooden olympic rings. They were made from trees planted by athletes at the 1964 games, with new seeds planted this year to keep the cycle going. And once tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the iconic flame, signifying the start of the Olympics, it burned clean hydrogen for 16 days to limit pollution.

Around the village, both the Ariake Arena, built for vollyeball and wheelchair basketball, and Ariake Gymnastics Centre, built for, well gymnastics, features Japanese timber throughout the interior, while the concave roof on the Ariake Arena was designed to limit the use of lighting and air conditioning.

Renewable and geothermal energy are used throughout the arenas to reduce the games’ carbon footprint, while over in the newly constructed aquatics centre, geothermal energy is even used to heat the pool water.

And it wasn't just the arenas and stadiums given the green treatment. In the athletes' village beds made form recycled cardboard were found in every room, while the athletes were transported around the village by driverless pods powered by the sun. Not to mention a village plaza made from sustainably sourced Japanese wood, which will host an array of facilities for athetes before being disassembled so the wood can be sent back to each prefecture to be used in public projects and designs.

No one can deny Tokyo of their commitment to sustainability throughout the games, the desired medals even made from donated e-waste. It’s recognition of what needs to be done, and proving that it’s possible. It may have been one of the warmest games on record, but rather than adding to the problem, Tokyo tackled it.

Paving the way for more sustainable games in the future, all eyes now turn to Paris. Will they build on Tokyo's methods or take a step backwards? Maybe they will do their own thing entirely, finding alternative ways of putting on one of Earth's greatest shows without damaging the planet that allows us to do so. That's how Tokyo's theme came to be, and it's safe to say it was a success.

Never has an event reflected the state of the world as accurately as Tokyo. But these Olympics proved that even in empty stadiums, in isolation, and in gruelling temperatures, humanity still has the belief, desire and ability to not just push the boundaries, but break them.