After months of uncertainty, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will commence in July. This will be the first time the world will emerge, gather and celebrate our human spirit and common values. This event has never been more important, after being isolated and cut off from one another for well over a year. In a world that’s filled with so much strife and conflict, the Olympics still bring people together regardless of politics. The Games encourage humanitarian, intercultural and international education and exchange. It proves we are citizens of the Earth, and it represents what’s best about the world.
At the 2016 Summer and 2018 Winter Olympics, there were over 14,000 athletes that competed in 35 different sports and 400 events. There is simply no other competition that brings this many elite athletes together, in one place representing over 200 countries. It is the ultimate competition in an athlete’s career to win a coveted medal. Over the last year, these athletes had to persevere, continue with their training in the hopes the Olympics would occur in 2021.
It’s also an opportunity for us as viewers and fans to root for our favorite athletes and watch the sports we love. During the Olympics we learn about emerging athletes, their stories of strength and hardship and what they did to make it to the Games. These athletes give us hope we can continue, and they give us the strength to overcome our own hardships.
The campaign is called “Know Differences, Show Differences,” which allows people to demonstrate their capabilities in an atmosphere where everyone will understand and respect each other. The vision will build on three core concepts: “Striving for your personal best” (Achieving Personal Best), “Accepting one another” (Unity in Diversity) and “Passing on Legacy for the future” (Connecting to Tomorrow). The organizers regard diversity and inclusion as the driver for the campaign and they will share this vision with athletes, spectators and Olympics personnel.
Travel Times, a Solvere Signature Program, is celebrated by “traveling” to a different country each quarter. Residents experience and engage in different world cultures through language classes, cuisine, art classes and lectures. This year residents are learning about Greece, Egypt, Israel and Switzerland.
