What is typically a swelling crescendo of chants and rush of adrenaline over the final 250 meters to the finish line replaced by the labored breathing wracking their lungs.

The events are so quiet, rowers can hear the ripple of their own wake and the flap of hundreds of national flags whipping in the breeze on the shoreline. The US men’s gymnastics team stood in the back waving an American flag and screaming for their female counterparts before the stadium fell quiet again, like the others scattered across Tokyo.Īt the Sea Forest Waterway rowing venue, grandstands that stretch for nearly 2,000 meters (yards) are empty all the way to the finish line. That’s what we thrive in, having each other’s backs.” We had our own cheering section,” he said. It barely feels like an Olympics to him, he said, but when he stuck that landing and heard his own team cheering, that felt like enough. “It’s kind of nice,” said Mikulak, a three-time Olympian whose parallel bar routine helped usher him to finals. For them, the emptiness numbs the nerves and lets them fully focus on their sport. The lucky few permitted to compete with headphones keep their phones in their pockets, tuned to songs with a beat to replace the thrill of applause.īut others were surprised to find the silence motivating - like another day at the gym rather than the most prestigious competition on Earth.

They’re blasting playlists in backstage training rooms. Some are trying to envision fans at home in their living rooms, leaning into TV screens. They’re rooting for each other as loudly as they can. In arenas across Tokyo, athletes accustomed to feeding off the deafening roar of the crowd are searching for new ways to feel Olympic enthusiasm. Cheers erupted from a far back corner of the stands, where Simone Biles and the rest of the women’s team screamed as loud as lungs could muster to cut through the eerie quiet of the pandemic Olympic venue.

“Wow, that was fantastic!”īut all around Mikulak, the stretches of wooden benches meant to seat thousands sat mostly empty. “Beautiful!” the broadcast announcer exclaimed. Those watching the men’s Olympics gymnastic competition on television back home knew they’d seen magic. TOKYO (AP) - The beloved American gymnast Sam Mikulak flipped off the parallel bars, stuck the landing and blew a kiss toward the camera.

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