Kosei Inoue: Gold and Great Lessons of the Paris Games

Greetings fellow readers of JAPAN Forward and judo fans. Once again, this is judoka Kosei Inoue.

It has already been a month and a half since the curtain fell on the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. It has been my honor to participate in seven Olympics, dating back to my days as a competitor. But this time I attended in the capacity of assistant manager for the entire Japan national team. 

Previously I had attended the Olympics as a competitor, manager, or coach for the Japan national judo team. In this new position, I experienced the Olympics from yet another angle.

Here is a brief report on what Team Japan accomplished in Paris.

Cooperation on the Way to Winning

Including both athletes and officials, there were 744 of us in all. We brought back to Japan a total of 45 medals: 20 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze. That earned us third place in the final medals table behind the United States and China. This was the best result ever for Japan at an Olympics held overseas. 

Looking back, I had worked as a Japanese Olympic Committee Paris Olympics project leader from December 2021. That was following the Tokyo Olympics. I was seeking to deepen cooperation with individual sports organizations and create an environment in which athletes could perform at their best.

The Olympics are now over. However, I can see in my mind's eye the faces of all those who collaborated with us on the path to Paris. At the same time, I feel an ardent desire to let more people know about the appeal of each individual sport that I learned about through this project.

This feeling was intensified by enjoying the opportunity to watch various sports events in Paris during the Olympics. 

A 'Sustainable' Olympics 

As you no doubt know, during these Olympics historical buildings and sites such as the Grand Palais, the Place de la Concorde, and Versailles Palace were used as venues. I had the opportunity to attend some events held at these sites. They were absolutely magnificent environments for competition. 

The exteriors were, of course, imposing. Moreover, the interior lighting and decorations were also superb, and the athletes' performances made the effect even more captivating. The event organizers managed to achieve a perfect blend of state-of-the-art technology with due regard for the weight of history. 

Utilization of existing facilities in this manner served to bring out the latent appeal of the various sports. In addition, it also significantly reduced the cost of hosting the event. 

Consideration of environmental issues was another notable feature of the Paris Olympics. It sought to tackle common global challenges head-on, like global warming and marine plastic waste.

For example, the athletes' village was not equipped with air conditioning units, so each country's team had to provide its own means of staying cool. (Japan was one such example.) This is but one instance of how the Paris Olympics demonstrated ways of running a sustainable event.

An Element of Entertainment

Next up —  the Entertainment Olympics. How will the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics seek to improve on Paris?

One outstanding feature of the Paris Games was the immense popularity of "urban sports," such as skateboarding and sport climbing. The distinctive feature of these sports is that both athletes and spectators can share in the fun. 

I believe that in the days to come, this element of "enjoyment," as distinct from the simple pursuit of victory, will be increasingly important for sports. That will be true not just for new sports. 

Take my own sport of judo, for example. We have a mixed male-female team competition. Now, the matchups by weight class are decided by a computer-controlled roulette system. The roulette wheel is displayed on a large monitor at the venue so that everyone present can share in the moment of decision. That means that the athletes and spectators can simultaneously experience the tension. 

It is now commonplace for competitions to take place in such thrilling, stimulating environments.

Next Summer Games: Los Angeles

One truism is that as society evolves, so too do sports. As someone involved in the promotion of sports, I believe we need to understand these changes and adjust with a broad perspective in mind.

Next, the United States city of Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. In Paris, the US team won 40 gold medals. That was the same number as China. As a major sports power, how will it interpret this result? And how will it seek to better it when it has the home-field advantage? 

As a sports fan, I look forward to seeing how this story unfolds. 

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(Read the column in Japanese.)

Learn more about the sport of judo and Kosei Inoue, former Olympic gold medalist and former national men's team judo coach who now serves in key positions for All Japan Judo Federation, on the website of JUDOs, a certified Japanese NPO. And find further columns by and about Kosei Inoue in English on JAPAN Forward and SportsLook.