
TOKYO: History shows that nations that enjoyed success in their home Olympics tend to continue riding the medal wave in the next quadrennial event, boosting hopes that Japan will do the same in the Paris Olympics.
In the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021, Japan collected 27 gold medals for a total medal count of 58, both record highs for the Asian country.
The host of the 2012 London Olympics, Britain, won 19 gold medals at the preceding Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008, 29 at its home Olympics and then 27 at the following 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.
The gold medal count for Brazil, which hosted the 2016 Games, stood at three in the 2012 Olympics, seven at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and also seven at the Tokyo Olympics.
The gold medal hauls of host nations at their home Olympics rose by 1.6-fold from the previous Olympics on average since the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, which were not impacted by boycotts by Eastern and Western nations unlike in preceding Games. Their total medal counts, meanwhile, marked a 1.3-fold increase on average.
Both gold and overall medal tallies only fell by less than 20 percent on average at the Summer Olympics held immediately after the home Olympics, indicating a continuation in the nations’ Olympic competitiveness.
For the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, the opening ceremony was held Friday.
For Japan, medal momentum is rising especially for its squads in team ball games.
The country battled through qualifiers to reach the Paris Olympics in men’s basketball for the first time in 12 Summer Games. At the time of the Tokyo Olympics, the Japanese team was given a host nation slot.
In men’s volleyball, Japan survived the qualifying stage to win a Paris Games berth for the first time in four Olympics. A similar feat was achieved in men’s handball for the first time in nine Olympics.
“Team building tends to be based on continuity in team ball sports,” said Shigeki Shimizu, a senior official at the Japan Handball Association. “The foundation (of a team) doesn’t change much, with its members gradually replaced.”
On the national budget front, Japan spent over 10 billion yen in beefing up Olympic athletes in fiscal 2019, exceeding the level for the first time. The expenses were less than 5 billion yen in fiscal 2014, just before the establishment of the Japan Sports Agency.
The annual expenses stay above 10 billion yen even after the Tokyo Olympics.
Meanwhile, some sporting organizations have said that their budgets decreased after the Tokyo Games.
Nippon Badminton Association President Mitsuru Murai said that subsidies have decreased to 60 percent of what they were for the Tokyo Games.
Some associations lost sponsors after the Tokyo Olympics.
On the other hand, some have managed to use leftover funds from reduced activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Facilities built for the Tokyo Olympics continue to benefit athletes even after the home Olympics ended. Among them is the country’s first artificial canoe slalom course, established in Tokyo in 2019.
Takuya Haneda, who will compete in the men’s canoe singles in Paris, voiced his gratitude, saying that Japan has “created a first-rate environment.”
If Japan performs as well as the averages attained by the eight other host nations since the 1988 Seoul Games, it would secure up to 22 gold medals and 52 total medals in the Paris Olympics.
Only time will tell whether Japan will replicate a glorious Olympic run in Paris as it did in Tokyo.
JIJI Press