Tokyo 2020 — My Olympic Journey

John Cunningham
ILLUMINATION
Published in
3 min readJun 4, 2021

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A volunteer’s journal

Image by author

When I moved back to Japan in 2017, one thing that excited me was a chance to volunteer for the Olympics. While that journey was delayed by a year, the opportunity to be part of one of the world’s biggest events is now becoming a reality.

The Olympics brings to mind an ideal of unity, sportsmanship and inclusion like no other event. These ideals are what I signed up for. Being part of such a massive global event, I reasoned, would surely be a beneficial experience.

My goals for participation beyond that are to network with people from across the country and around the world. While that scope has been greatly reduced thanks to COVID, I should still have the opportunity to engage with people outside my normal social circle.

To date I have attended several training sessions. One was about Olympic Spirit and inclusion, another for team building, and the next taught us basic first aid. Last month I had leader’s training, and later in June I will attend training for my role as an Olympic Family Services Team Leader. I’m excited to see what that’s all about.

Yesterday I got my uniform, and while I was expecting a bit more swag, it was still pretty cool. I got convertible sweatpants, polo shirts, athletic shoes, a couple of bags, and a prepaid Visa card to cover train…

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John Cunningham
ILLUMINATION

World-class trainer, life coach, and author of Win the Day: How to win your battles with stress, anxiety & depression. www.synergypersonaldevelopment.com