CMCI Buffs bring听the Tokyo Olympics to fans around the world
By Tayler Shaw (Jour, Span鈥21) and Stephanie Cook (MJour鈥18)
After a year-long delay, the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games captured the world's attention in 2021
As this year鈥檚 events unfolded, sports reporters and storytellers鈥撯搃ncluding alumni, students and baby直播app from CMCI鈥撯揾it the ground running to capture the victories, struggles and emotions of athletes from around the globe.听
The experience has likely been both familiar and thrilling for Olympic veterans such as (Jour鈥90), who marked Tokyo as her sixth Games. Another longtime pro, (闯辞耻谤鈥91), and returned to cover gymnastics and swimming听in 2021. Pulitzer Prize-winning (Bus鈥89; MJour鈥96) also headed to Tokyo this year with a focus on newer events such as skateboarding, rock climbing and surfing.
For more recent graduates, like (Jour鈥19), the 2021 Olympics represented a personal and professional milestone. Attending the Tokyo Games, specifically, has been a longtime dream for Takahashi, whose father works with Japanese Olympic runners.
鈥淚 think my love for the Olympics was partly because of my dad,鈥 she told CMCI in 2019, 鈥渂ut I also think that I was just amazed at how the world comes together every two years to compete, watch and celebrate their nation鈥檚 players.鈥
(Comm鈥02)鈥撯搘hose memoir,听The Power of Choice: My Journey from Wounded Warrior to World Champion,听was published in 2020鈥撯搃s competing as a triathlete after two previous Games. The first woman to lose a limb in the Iraq War, Stockwell has previously won three paratriathlon world championships and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
鈥淓ven with some of my fastest times, I was not confident that I was going to be named to the team as I needed an international invite slot, the same I had received in 2016 prior to Rio,鈥 Stockwell wrote on Instagram, adding, 鈥淚 think I am still in shock."
Some Olympic events this year brought current and former CMCI Buffs together. Television producer Peter Lasser (Comm鈥76)鈥攚ho has covered 10 previous Games鈥攔ecently captured the alongside CMCI sophomore Abbie Snyder, who was there as a听production runner for NBC.
"What a difference a year could make," Lasser says. "The athletes already compete for an opportunity that occurs in a very small window of time. Training for years, so that on a singular day you will perform at your best and hope to win a gold medal or any medal, or just make finals to compete for a medal. There were probably a dozen U.S. swimmers that would have made the team in the summer of 2020 but were surpassed in trials a year later by others who were reaching their peak. To quote the old ABC Wide听World of Sports opening, it is the epitome of 'the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat'.
While journalists and producers have traditionally covered Olympic events in person, much of the reporting on this year's Games was conducted virtually due to the pandemic.
Lasser, who once filled in for Turner Sports to produce a hockey game virtually during the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, believes that remote production听will continue for future Olympics, for both technological and financial听reasons.
"There are two major factors 鈥 first, the quality of the production that the world feed provides. Olympic Broadcasting Services has continued to add to the technology of coverage at each Olympics," he says. "The second factor is cost. It cost NBC roughly $50,000 per person sent to Tokyo鈥撯搕hat is for airfare, hotel and per diem. It doesn鈥檛 even cover pay. At those numbers, it just doesn鈥檛 make sense."
CMCI Instructor and Sports Media Minor Director Marina Dmukhovskaya听is one of many journalists who reported on the Games virtually for the first time this year, and despite having two previous Olympics under her belt鈥擲ochi in 2014 and Pyeongchang in 2018鈥攖he Tokyo games made her feel like a novice again.听
鈥淵ou get used to coming to a place, talking to athletes, talking to coaches and attending press conferences,鈥 she says. 鈥淎nd then suddenly all you have is a computer, your notes, internet and your colleagues.鈥
This was also Dmukhovskaya鈥檚 first time writing for the Olympic Channel, the platform of the International Olympic Committee. Based in Berlin, Germany, she began her coverage at 8 a.m. CEST鈥3 p.m. in Tokyo, Japan JST鈥攁nd didn't wrap up until at least 6 p.m. CEST. Though she wasn't reporting on site, Dmukhovskaya met virtually with editors and production teams based in Tokyo and Madrid, as well as fellow journalists scattered around the globe.
鈥淚 think this is becoming a new norm,鈥 she says, adding that, while she would have preferred to report from Tokyo, she understands the rationale for limiting exposure to the athletes, as well as the increasing importance of reducing travel for environmental reasons.
For feature stories, Dmukhovskaya focused more on individual athletes than on specific events, she says, noting that for many athletes, the real battle is not with their competitors but with themselves.听
When looking for potential leads, Dmukhovskaya says, she examines the relationship dynamics between athletes and seeks details that capture the personal and often emotional stories of their Olympic journeys. Recently, she produced stories on athletes' mental health, on a rock climber who was forced to train alone after the death of his longtime coach, and on听two former canoe racing rivals from the same team who realized they work better together.听
鈥淭he way that they went from competitors to people who are looking forward to getting the same medal鈥攆rom being these individuals to becoming a team鈥攊t鈥檚 amazing,鈥 she says.
Part of what makes the Games so special, Dmukhovskaya adds, is the way each event brings together an international and diverse group of individuals.听
鈥淸The] Olympics is, I feel like, the greatest event on Earth because it brings the talent and the stories and the representatives of the entire planet,鈥 she says.听
Lasser agreed, noting that the international broadcast center is often a hub for broadcasters from around the world.
"I have always thought that the most unique aspect of the Olympic Games was the international broadcast center," he says. "You can walk through the facility and literally see broadcasters from hundreds of countries all bringing the story of the Olympic Games to their homeland. Just sitting in the commissary, you see the faces of the world in one room and hear so many languages. While the variety is great 鈥 the purpose and focus is the same."
While the听main events take place over the span of about two weeks, producers like Lasser and journalists听like Dmukhovskaya spend far longer preparing. Dmukhovskaya's assignments required extra research this year,听as she needed to familiarize herself with summer events after spending most of her career focused on the Winter Games.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of an unfamiliar situation to me because I鈥檓 not an expert in summer sports. And it鈥檚 funny because I鈥檓 always telling my students who take up sports writing with me, 鈥楬ey, it doesn鈥檛 matter if you鈥檙e an expert, you can always research,鈥欌 she says. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 actually following my own advice and I鈥檓 like, 鈥極h, now it鈥檚 me who has to do that.鈥欌澨
For her first Games at Sochi in 2014, Dmukhovskaya, who speaks five languages including Korean, worked as a translator for Viktor Ahn, a six-time Olympic short track speed skating champion who represented Russia and was born in South Korea. She eventually began writing stories on the Olympics and fell in love with capturing the experience.
鈥淭he atmosphere was just so amazing,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 just wanted to experience that feeling again鈥攖he euphoria of being at this big event. And look at me now. I鈥檓 at home covering the Olympics in Tokyo.鈥澨
This year, especially, journalists and producers were听critical in keeping fans engaged while they weren't allowed to attend in-person events. As a storyteller and fan herself, Dmukhovskaya says听it was a responsibility she was proud to take on.
鈥淲hen you have so many people from so many different countries鈥擨 couldn't think of anything else that brings people from all over the world together, and this is [what is] so special about the Olympic Games,鈥 she says. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 a great honor to be able to tell the stories of these athletes.鈥