[Special Feature: Tokyo 2020 and Keio University] <Hosting the British Team at Hiyoshi> Experiences as a Host University Carved into Olympic History

"We have decided to host the pre-games training camp for the British Olympic and Paralympic teams for Tokyo 2020 at the Hiyoshi Campus." When I heard this news from the Office of the President, I intuitively felt that this would be a wonderful experience for Keio University and its students.

I have been involved in the management of many international competitions as a member of the Medical Committee of the Japan Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation. While there is almost no precedent for this in Japan, it is not uncommon overseas for universities to provide their campuses and cooperate in the management of large-scale international competitions. Most recently, at the Winter Universiade (2019, Krasnoyarsk, Russia) and the Winter Youth Olympics (2020, Lausanne, Switzerland), Siberian Federal University and the University of Lausanne respectively hosted delegations as host universities.

Having experienced the wonders of universities hosting international events through various interactions between students, staff, and even citizens on the ground, I was convinced that if this were to unfold at the Hiyoshi Campus, it would become an irreplaceable legacy for Keio students, faculty, staff, and the Athletic Association organizations.

That said, the preparations for hosting were quite difficult. It was not simply a matter of providing a practice venue—"renting a box"—but rather there were many forms of "omotenashi" (hospitality) that we had to prepare as a host university in terms of both hardware and software, such as accommodation facilities, transportation of people and equipment, providing meals that considered anti-doping regulations, various lifestyle supports, training student volunteers, and medical safety and crisis management. Fortunately, based on my own past experiences, I had an image of what specifically needed to be prepared, so I shared this with the Office of the President and the Hiyoshi Management Service staff.

The progress of the preparations thereafter was wonderful. I had been prepared for some negative opinions like "Mr. Ishida, this is simply impossible," but the "can-do attitude" for the British team was remarkable, and in no time at all, the necessary systems for hosting, including cooperating contractors, were in place. Perhaps the experience of holding events such as the Rengo Mita-kai Tournament was useful, but it was a moment when I felt the underlying strength of Keio University.

However, the situation changed completely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Separation of movement became mandatory as a condition for holding both the Olympics/Paralympics and the pre-games camps, and face-to-face interaction became impossible. Unfortunately, the role of the host university switched from "hospitality" to "infectious disease control."

At one point, the holding of the Olympics and Paralympics themselves was in doubt, but I believe the tide turned significantly with the US Open Tennis held in September 2020 (the tournament won by Naomi Osaka). In this tournament, a method was used where PCR tests were repeated during the event while simultaneously restricting activity areas. Movement was limited to between the venue and the accommodation, and leaving the accommodation was prohibited.

Athletes, staff, and tournament officials were all placed under this management, and the safe space in which they were confined was called a "Bubble" (the same concept as a "sterile area" in an operating room). Remarkably, no clusters occurred during the tournament. The demonstration experiment as a model for providing a safe competitive environment for athletes was a success.

So, could we actually create this Bubble in Hiyoshi? Here too, I was able to utilize past experience. The World Team Trophy in Figure Skating held in Osaka in April 2021 was the first large-scale international competition in Japan to adopt the Bubble system, and it happened that I and Hirohiko Saso (2004, Faculty of Policy Management) were involved in creating this system. Mr. Saso runs a company that develops sports event consulting businesses and is someone who has accumulated know-how in tournament management based on infectious disease control from an early stage. I involved Mr. Saso because he is a fellow member of Keio University, and after repeated discussions with the Hiyoshi staff, an impressive Bubble area was constructed.

In this way, after many twists and turns, the system was somehow ready in time, but once the hosting actually began, various incidents occurred daily, large and small. In particular, on the medical side, we were at the mercy of the results of the PCR tests conducted daily on all members of the British national team. The testing was a two-stage process using different methods; if the first test was positive, a final confirmation was made with a second test. However, there were unexpectedly many false positives in the first test, and each time, tension ran through the campus.

Even for foreign nationals, if a positive case occurs within the country, it must be reported to the public health center, and close contacts must be identified and the individual's isolation location designated. Since medical safety, including reporting and online interviews, was my role (available 24 hours a day), I ended up carrying out university duties while constantly carrying a communication iPad and reporting forms during the British team's stay.

The isolation location designated by the government in the event of a confirmed positive case was, of all places, Shonan Village. Shonan Village is located on the hills of Hayama and is a scenic location overlooking Sagami Bay, but the athletes did not come to Japan for a retreat. In the first place, how were we to deal with the anxiety of being moved from Hiyoshi to Hayama and isolated? A particular issue was that the support system for Paralympic athletes who require lifestyle assistance was launched without sufficient explanation from the government.

Was it perhaps the protection of Yukichi Fukuzawa? Fortunately, we were able to finish the camp period without a single confirmed positive case among the athletes. Being able to send the athletes and staff to the Olympic Village safely without any major accidents or clusters during the period means that Keio University fulfilled a certain role. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the seniors and juniors from the School of Medicine who cooperated with the medical system, as well as to everyone at their respective medical institutions.

A total of 10 Keio students and Keio University alumni participated as athletes in the Tokyo 2020 Games. On the other hand, a major characteristic was that many Keio students and Keio University alumni were also involved on the side supporting the games.

I hear that at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session held in Rome in 1966, Shingoro Takaishi, a Keio University alumnus who was an IOC member at the time, sent a recorded voice message from his sickbed, which contributed greatly to the come-from-behind bid for the 1972 Sapporo Olympics, which was said to be at a disadvantage (see "People Around Yukichi Fukuzawa" in the February 2019 issue of this magazine). Of course, the main stars of the Olympics are the athletes, but I feel that contributing from a position of supporting the tournament management in the backyard, like Mr. Takaishi, has a strong affinity with the history of Keio University and the Olympics.

In that sense, hosting this pre-games training camp for the British team will be carved as one of the Olympic legacies of Keio University. However, it is a matter of deepest regret that, as a result of the COVID-19 response, we could not leave this major event as a hands-on experience for students, faculty, and staff.

As I mentioned at the beginning, it is by no means rare for universities overseas to attract international competitions. I hope that in the near future, various international exchanges using sports as content will be planned at Keio University as well. I believe that by realizing this, the current experience can be sublimated from nostalgia into a legacy.