Olympic Fan Darcy

Almost like I predicted it, Naomi Osaka is the one to light the flame. I forgive the ceremony now.

If Naomi Osaka is involved in this Olympic flame ceremony, i'd be less harsh on the ceremony.

They're playing Queen? Could the organisers not find a single Japanese artist or band who could suit? Give them the chance to shine on the world stage? Instead we get foreign artists? Far out.

Australia's broadcast must be a bit behind others. Just seeing the pianist now, incredible stuff.

I'm not asking for big budget designs and optics, i'm asking for character and theme and history. Until now this has been so lackluster, that pictogram thing was abysmal, would it be hard to acknowledge some of the pop culture that Japan has given the world? The history element has been so sorely lacking too.

Please tell me this pictogram thing isn't going all the way to 50? I'm already cringed out.

Oh god why does he have a ball for a head? I know he's trying to be the pictogram but this is just embarrassing.

Well that was an underwhelming announcement...

Christ, imagine the games being cancelled mid way through and the athletes and us had to listen to Bach ramble on for this long. THis is insufferable.

Come on, Covid aside this has been awful. Where's the pop culture references? We had Shinzo Abe dressed as Mario at the handover in Rio 2016. I haven't seen anything fun or culturally fun so far. I've seen barely anything about Japanese history, I would've loved to see so much more about Tokyo 1964. Instead it's been this bland, stale piece of bread show.

Definitely, we saw the promise at the handover in Rio. I just don't understand why they had to completely ignore their own history. This has just been so bland and boring and not because there's no crowd.

If we manage to get there, I hope the closing ceremony is 100x better than this hunk of crap.

Honestly, agree. I have been so disappointed with Tokyo and Japan. Next to no history acknowledgement in the ceremony, no pop culture. The 3 minute handover at Rio with then Prime MInister Shinzo Abe in the Mario hat was better than this entire ceremony.

Well this has been one hell of a week. Capped off with this opening ceremony.

Are they trying to make Brisbane look better? I mean pushing a joint bid with a dictatorship that's closed to the outside world and executes both foreigners as well it's own? Gee, Brisbane is starting to look like a world class bid in comparison. All we need now is Joko Widodo to announce Indonesia is interested and then maybe Qatar and their use of slave workers to build air conditioned stadiums.

How smart would the IOC be to choose Doha after everything that went on with FIFA and the exploitation of North Korean workers to build the stadiums...

I mean it's hard to compare the blatant bribery from cities like Nagano and SLC to what's gone on here. I see no cities that have been screwed over that actually had a chance at hosting. I can see the maneuvering of him saying look it's an unstable time, Australia handled Covid well, pick us and secure the games before the uncertainty (like we're seeing with Tokyo) goes on for years. Because countries and cities aren't focussed on a 2032 Olympic bid right now when many are in lockdown. Brisbane though has the luxury of not worrying about it too much and can take the front foot. I mean as you point out, LA got the games 11 years before the actual event and people are suddenly outraged Brisbane could get it 11 years out like it's a first? It's pretty obvious that the 2028 decision was along the lines of, look here LA, you give up 2024 to Paris, you've got 2028. Also, cities and countries have had the chance to express their interest in 2032, Brisbane has been on this for almost 4-6 years now, way before Covid was a thing. Doha, India, dictatorship and country that executes foreigners were our biggest threat? They never had a chance. Budapest, Hamburg and Rome had all withdrawn mid race in 2024/2024 due to opposition from citizens so they weren't exactly looking promising either. Then you have this bid from a region that beat Covid, is a first world nation, is committed to the bid, has the support of all levels of government and it's citizens. And people are shocked they get preferred status? Seriously. Also, I never wanted Doha to host. It was the inconsistency of the IOC saying they can't bend on the heat issue for Doha and then potentially entertaining Melbourne or Sydney as you and other posters kept pushing (guess where that ended up). Doha outranked other bidding cities in many categories but weren't entertained because of their various human rights abuses but the IOC chose a stupid issue to remove them from the race. Anyway, they were heard multiple times and the IOC rejected them, no way they can redeem themselves for 2032 anyway unless the IOC wants to officially end the Olympic Games by awarding it to Doha. This isn't my feelings of my hometown, in fact I used to say many times how Brisbane isn't ready to host the Olympics and I still feel that way. ALOT of investment and upgrades are needed for this, but, they are 100% the right choice right now. Only other place that's handled Covid better is NZ (Auckland currently in lockdown) or Singapore (someday soon?).

Yes cause the IOC is well known for being transparent and handing the hosting to the most deserving city and not at all behind the scenes dealings. I mean i'm surprised at how shocked people are by the IOC wanting to choose a city in the country that handled Covid one of the best. No community transmission of Covid, no deaths this year. Brisbane holds the record for the largest sporting event held since Covid became a pandemic. Now how is the UK doing? USA? Italy? And they aren't even wanting the games. What we're actually left with is Doha and a possible joint bid of South Korea with a dictatorship or hey maybe Shanghai cause as I said above, China is looking awesome. I mean hey, remember how me and you used to get into arguments about Doha? I'm now meant to feel sorry the Qatari's aren't singled out as the favourite because they haven't had the chance to bribe everyone like they did with FIFA for 2022? Or i'm meant to feel suspicious because the IOC want to secure a city in these incredibly uncertain times?

I mean people really going to say this is the most corrupt after Salt Lake City? Nagano? Sydney? All the bribery scandals, free gifts, free trips, free university? Sorry people are mad that the obvious choice is being preferred. I mean hey if you'd rather: Doha - human rights abuses, 50 degree heat, slave labor, bribery scandals Indonesia - executing foreigners India - might want to focus on the whole poverty, lack of proper sewage, South Korea joint bid with a dictatorship Shanghai - cause everyone is itching to go to China right now. Maybe Wuhan can have the closing ceremony?

Not Doha suddenly being touted by people here as a good alternative after being mocked for the longest time . And then Indonesia? Hopefully Joko Widodo isn't executing any people when the IOC visit. Or hey maybe a joint bid between South Korea and a dictatorship? Or yeah, Shanghai, i'm sure everyone is going to be flocking to go to China after everything that's happened in the last 16 months or so. Maybe Wuhan might host some events too? Gee its a real surprise why the IOC is rushing to pick a city in Australia, the country that handled Covid one of the best in the world where we have no community transmission while other countries have overloaded hospitals, cities in lockdown while we're able to host events. (Brisbane holds the record for the largest sporting event since Covid became a pandemic with over 50,000 people packing out Suncorp Stadium). Not surprised they want to secure a host given these incredibly uncertain times especially after city after city kept dropping out of multiple bidding races.

So what is the solution?

Look at the preparations for the Australian Open tennis. It'll likely go ahead but that was with a hard 2 week quarantine and more. That's around 200-300 people. This is 10,000-20,000 people with their athletes and their coaches, teams, physio etc. You really think this event will happen? Yeah those nation wide leagues like NHL and NBA happened, this is the largest sporting event in the world. Let's not play dumb.

So if not 2022 or 2032, no Olympics for Tokyo then? $33 billion down the drain with no chance of return on investment? Cause I do not see it happening this year at all.

Looks epic, definitely have to post some pics when it arrives. I've been adding quite a bit over recent years. The best being Brisbane 1992, Atlanta 1996 and London 2012. A few others. You?

You make a good point but the only other alternative is to postpone it by 11 years until 2032 which would be even worse. Let's be real, the Olympics aren't happening this year. Tokyo is still in a state of emergency. This virus is getting worse, mutating several times into a more infectious and deadlier virus. Look at the shitshow going on with the Australian Open tennis and that's in Australia where there's no community transmission and with only 200 or so athletes. This would be thousands and thousands of athletes from every inch of the earth in a country where Covid has forced a lockdown. I can't see it happening this year at all. So if not 2022, that means 2032.