Olympics, Legacy, Obsolete Content | Hiroyuki Ishida, Dean, Graduate School of Health Management
2022.03.15
On Saturday, March 5, we streamed the KEIO SPORTS SDGs Symposium 2022 from the Hiyoshi Campus.
KEIO SPORTS SDGs was launched in anticipation of the 2020 Olympic year. It is a cross-campus initiative involving multiple organizations, including the Graduate School of Health Management, the Graduate School of System Design and Management, and the Institute of Physical Education, that brings together various stakeholders to promote the SDGs approach through the lens of sports. This time, the Olympic and Paralympic legacy was one of the topics of the symposium. Legacy means "inheritance." In other words, the Olympic legacy refers to the positive and sustainable effects brought to the host city as a result of hosting the Olympics, which is also compatible with the SDGs policy. In terms of practical implementation, the 2012 London Summer Olympics was the first to have a legacy plan. The concept of legacy came to be discussed against the backdrop of numerous cases where the Olympics ended up as a one-time festival, leaving the host city with debts and expensive facilities that are difficult to maintain, thus becoming a burden on its citizens "after the party is over." In other words, to avoid being "too little, too late" with a negative legacy, it is necessary to systematically develop a legacy plan before hosting the Games. Incidentally, the legacy plan for the Tokyo 2020 Games emphasized keywords such as "the power of sport," "achieving a society of health and longevity," "unity in diversity," and "realizing an inclusive society." However, as you know, Tokyo 2020 became a Games focused more on COVID-19 countermeasures than on legacy. The legacy of the Games is currently being analyzed by a group including my co-presenter, Professor Kanie of the Graduate School of Media and Governance , and Mr. Sasaki, a senior researcher at the same laboratory at SFC. However, the decision to hold the Games without spectators, which prevented the public from experiencing the Olympics firsthand, will likely have a significant impact.
By the way, I was also involved in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which just concluded, so I was fortunate to have the opportunity to experience two Olympics in about six months. Both the Tokyo and Beijing Games were held in major cities, but their legacy plans were quite different. In Tokyo, where social infrastructure is already mature, the legacy emphasized soft aspects such as health and inclusivity. In Beijing, however, the focus was on creating a hub for winter sports, promoting their popularity, and developing the necessary infrastructure, giving an impression closer to the 1964 Tokyo Games. It is true that while China is a sporting powerhouse, there is a considerable gap between its summer and winter sports. In the previous PyeongChang Games, China won only nine medals in winter sports, including one gold. Therefore, a policy was set to use these Games as an opportunity to raise the level of winter sports on a national scale. Specifically, projects were carried out as national undertakings, including the resort development in the Zhangjiakou and Yanqing districts, which hosted the ski and snowboard events; the construction of a high-speed railway (with autonomous trains boasting speeds surpassing the Shinkansen) connecting Beijing to these districts; and the construction and renovation of skating facilities in the Beijing area. In fact, the facilities for these Games were outstanding compared to past Olympics. With good access from the airport, they will undoubtedly contribute greatly to attracting international competitions in the future. Furthermore, according to a survey, the number of people who participated in winter sports as a result of these Games reached 346 million (out of China's population of 1.4 billion), far exceeding the target of 300 million. In addition, the strategy—if you can call it that—of naturalizing athletes of Chinese descent who are active overseas seems to have paid off not only in terms of medals but also in shaping public opinion. Freestyle skier Gu Ailing Eileen, who won multiple medals, became an icon of these Games, and the Chinese public was ecstatic about her performance. At least at the conclusion of the Games, it seems that the scenario China had envisioned was fully achieved.
However, immediately after the Olympics ended, a situation arose that made talk of legacy seem like a fantasy. We are now in the incredible situation where the Paralympics and the war in Ukraine are happening simultaneously. Clichés like "a festival of peace" and "sports give us courage and inspiration" lose their rational persuasive power in the face of the real images coming from Ukraine. I even hear some people say that the Olympics and sports are "owacon" (obsolete content). As someone who has closely supported the athletes, it is incredibly disappointing to hear such comments.
There is a man named Sachio Fujioka (Faculty of Letters, Class of 1985), an orchestra conductor who was in my class at the Juku. He is a man whose charm lies in his free-spirited nature, and he is one of my mischievous friends of nearly half a century. I have come to accept the absurdity that if I were to do the same things he does, it would probably not be socially acceptable, yet Sachio gets away with it under the title of "artist." I remember his passionate speech: "We classical musicians are still able to make a living thanks to people like Beethoven, Mozart, and others who were active in the 1700s or even earlier. So, we must not forget our gratitude. At the same time, we have a deep respect for works that have moved people for centuries." This man is naturally eloquent, but sometimes he says something truly profound. Turning to sports, what is the situation? The modern Olympics began with the Athens Games in 1896, but the ancient Olympics are said to have started before the common era. When we look back at the roots of "sport moving people's hearts"—the sight of competitors vying for speed and strength that excites people—I want to believe that the Olympics and sports cannot so easily become obsolete content. As values and forms of entertainment in the world diversify, I believe that how we communicate the wonder of this content is the lifeline to prevent it from becoming obsolete. This is a difficult challenge for a Showa-era guy like me who grew up with television, but I want to think about it together with the younger generation, borrowing their wisdom, through KEIO SPORTS SDGs and at the graduate school.