Olympics scenes without spectators: we saw all the athletes calling home after their competition, in tears with parents, grandparents, relatives, preferably with a medal around their neck to feel closer.
So what is missing from Tokyo, to us viewers, who chase the five circles also on all social networks, led by the #ItaliaTeam beacon hashtag? Let’s check the medal table of the blues. Athletes from cities and others from countries went to the podium which, it must be said without offense, not everyone knows, or knew where they were. Vito Dell’Aquila, the first Italian podium at the Games, or rather the first gold, made Mesagne, in the province of Brindisi, the Italian capital of taekwondo, even more so as he is the second gold medal linked to the same gym in which Carlo Molfetta, winner of the London Games, was training. Judoka Maria Centracchio, just off the podium (actually even before going up to collect her silver), proudly said she was the first Molise to win a medal at the Games. We could go on, fortunately, as the successes continue. For example, Aldo Montano, silver in the team saber, and at the personal fifth and final Olympics, once again exalted his genius loci, who has been from Livorno for generations: in 2004, when he won gold in Athens, he wreaked havoc among the leaders of the International Olympic Committee because on the podium he brought a personalized tricolor with the number 0586 which they believed to be a dangerous code, and which instead was simply the telephone area code of the city. Among other things, Livorno is the province with the most athletes participating in this year’s Olympics in relation to the population (Brescia, on the other hand, could win the title of the province that has lent more coaches to foreign national teams). And today, to close this part of the speech, athletes have even more freedom of expression.
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But let’s remain spectators and social spectators: what are we really missing? The fact is that we were used to banners that appeared in the stands to say, for example: Mesagne is there. We weren’t there, but someone had carried our flag and we were heard there. Here is the effect that the Tokyo plants have: they seem distant, further away than they are.
Obviously, at the IOC, the International Olympic Committee thought about the problem. The Tokyo Games site has a rich fan zone. There are trivial questions, but also the possibility of playing the fantasy Olympics, and the brackets, or the scoreboards that, for example, during the college basketball championship in the USA are an exercise that presidents must also undergo (Obama did , Trump no, Biden we’ll see). A little while ago I voted, with a deed of trust, the Italbasket first in its group
But this is still little. Using the hashtag #dearathletes on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter you can reach the athletes to be mentioned by name and surname by adding, again in the form of a hashtag, the three letters identifying a country, in our case #ITA. You can choose what kind of message to send.
At this address you will also find instructions and rules for participating in a sort of karaoke, not for nothing, we are in Japan, which in the name of Share the passion, share your love for the Games, can get your musical message to the big screens inside the plants, as long as it is posted with the hashtag # 2020beat. It is more difficult to explain than to participate, also because in any case, before transmitting a post, Obs, the television arm of the IOC, asks for the sender’s authorization.
Meanwhile, having entered the official Tokyo2020 website, something has already happened to your pc. The harmless Cheer Zone widget has appeared, which we could call the fans’ stand. You can choose which delegation to cheer for and once you have chosen the country, hands appear with which to applaud, with immediate feedback on the Fan Map. Or you can choose to activate your camera to send a message (Chrome is required as a browser. In fact, the only thing that is difficult to type is: Mesagne is there.
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