Games showcase a vibrant display of youth in the world's most aged nation

National Post, 7 August 2021

The Olympics brings us competition among young people; the most important economic, social, political and culture challenge of the 21st century will be competition for young people

There was something fitting about Tokyo’s vacant arenas, with no one to watch the Olympic athletes. That’s the near future of Japan — not youthful exertion, but a great emptiness as the country ages into an infirm and deserted future.

The Olympic motto is “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” which was proposed by Father Henri Didon, a Dominican priest, and adopted by his friend, Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games. Translated, it means “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” An inspiration, to be sure. Japan could use it, as its future is slower, lesser, feebler.

The Olympic host cities are often symbolic. Most infamous, of course, were the 1936 games in Berlin, which were intended by Hitler as an exaltation of the Nazi ideology. Germany had been banned from the 1920 and 1924 games as punishment for its aggression in the First World War (the other central powers were also banned in 1920). By 1936, the Games had been intended to signify the reintegration of Germany into the family of nations.

In 1948, London hosted the “austerity Games” — no new facilities built — given Britain was victorious but still rationing after the Second World War.

Then came the “rehabilitation” series — Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964, Munich 1972 — in which the Axis powers were celebrated for their democratic transformations.

The boycott Games followed: many African nations boycotted Montreal 1976, in protest of apartheid in South Africa; America led a Western boycott of Moscow 1980 over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; and the Soviet Union refused to attend Los Angeles 1984 to return the favour.

Tokyo will be remembered as the pandemic Games, with Japan’s elderly population too at risk to attend. Japan’s present is the world’s future, and it will touch every aspect of life. Currently, about nine per cent of the global population is over 65; that is expected to grow to 17 per cent by 2050.

There are vast areas of rural Asia and small-town Europe where prenatal clinics have closed, schools are shuttered and even universities are desperate to attract students. The Olympics brings us competition among young people; the most important economic, social, political and culture challenge of the 21st century will be competition for young people.

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