The MIRACLE GAMES

The Games of the XXXII Olympiad were historic even before tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the flame in the cauldron with her relay torch to commence them.

- Mark Edward Harris

Fireworks light up the sky above Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium at the opening ceremonies after the Parade of Nations on July 23, 2021. I used a Nikon Z7II with a Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 with a 2 second exposure at f/11, 200 ISO.

The concept of bringing athletes from every corner of the earth together for competing in the middle of a global pandemic seemed absurd. Yet they did, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were an incredible success by most accounts, including mine.

Tang Xijing of Team China performing a floor routine in front of judges on July 30 during the women’s individual all-around gymnastics final.

In advance of the Games, playbooks were created to guide athletes, support staff, and media - both writers and photographers - through all the protocols that were being set up to minimize the spread of COVID-19. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach pledged 85 percent of athletes would be vaccinated and isolated from the general public for the entirety of their stay in Japan. Members of the press, including myself, could use public transportation after two weeks as long as our daily health reports submitted through an app were cleared. A summer surge of covid cases did prevent the stands from being populated by spectators, so the television and still cameras became the sole eyes of the world to record the literally Olympian efforts of athletes.

A selfie with a Nikon D6 and a Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 above the Ariake Urban Sports Park skateboarding venue.