A year from now...

One year from now, I will probably be sweltering in the Tokyo heat. But the good news is that I will be at my first Summer Olympics, getting a look at one of the world's biggest cities.

Earlier this month, I received my confirmation that I had been granted my first choice for lodging for the two-plus weeks I am scheduled to be in Tokyo. The lodging situation in Japan will be a little different than in my previous two Olympic experiences. In Sochi, the media housing was in what was essentially a hotel where I stayed by myself while in PyeongChang, the media housing was essentially apartments, where I had my own room, but shared a living room and kitchen with two other people.

In Tokyo, because the Olympics are happening in an already bustling metropolis, the media housing will be in existing hotels. Each media member was given a list of the hotels, which included the amenities available and travel times. We were then asked to give our top three choices for lodging. My choices were entirely based on price, since much of this trip I am funding myself (with the help of many wonderful people who have donated). I did receive my first choice, the Tokyo Inn Tozai-sen Nishi-kasai, which runs at $90 a night. So, the total price for the 18 nights I have reserved (the night before the opening ceremony to the night after the closing ceremony) is just more than $1,600. This actually comes in a little under the price for PyeongChang (if I remember correctly), which in turn was less than Sochi.

I’ve spent a little time looking at the schedule for next summer and it looks pretty daunting. In the Winter Olympics, my first choice about things to see was any local connections, so I saw a lot of biathlon, alpine skiing and freestyle skiing. I am anticipating fewer local connections in the Summer Olympics, so there might be more of a chance to see different things. In both Russia and Korea, I was able to see pretty much every venue and most every sport, but that certainly will not happen in Tokyo, as the schedule includes a lot more different sports. All told there will be 33 sports and 339 events. That’s a lot.

However, I will do whatever I can to see as much as I possibly can, hopefully giving the readers back home a first-hand look at some of the iconic venues, including many that were also used the last time the city hosted the Olympics in 1964. There is a total of 42 venues, 24 which are already existing, 10 that are temporary and eight that are brand new. The challenge is daunting, but I'm ready for it.

That being said, I am interested in any possible local connections that might be at these Summer Games. As the Olympics get closer and qualifiers are held, I welcome any e-mails or phone calls regarding local connections.

For those interested, there is a gofundme page set up for donations to support the trip at https://www.gofundme.com/f/b4j4gq-tokyo-2020. I appreciate any donations.

Additionally, in the time leading up to the Summer Olympics, I will periodically update this blog and when I (hopefully) make it to Tokyo next July, I will try to update the blog every day, as I did throughout the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018. 

I'm looking forward to sharing this experience with everyone.

This was the first Olympic flame I witnessed in person in Sochi, Russia 2014. The hope is that the first Summer Olympics flame I witness will be in Tokyo a year from now.

Summer is coming

Spring has sprung in New England and with it, plenty of rain. Of course, rain is not a friend to sporting events, making postponements and cancellations a regular occurrence.
However, the advent of spring also means that summer is right around the corner, at least in one sense of the word. And with the approaching summer months comes the thoughts of next summer, when it will be time to pack up and head halfway around the world to cover the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
As I've mentioned before, I've never attempted to get credentials for the Summer Games and only applied on a whim. I didn't really expect to make it through, but when the approval came in, it was a chance I had to at least attempt to make happen. I thought for sure that my trip to Sochi in 2014 would be my 'once in a lifetime' Olympic experience and I left there with a feeling of contentment if that were indeed the case.
Four years later, getting the chance to experience my second Winter Olympics, I took a lot of stuff that I had learned the first time out and made this experience easier and in many ways, better. Additionally, I took time to see some more of the country where I was living for two weeks, which was an experience in and of itself.
Now, that 'once in a lifetime' opportunity is turning in a 'thrice in a lifetime' thing and in many ways, I am more nervous about this one than I was the first time around, though traveling to Russia in 2014 wasn't exactly calming on the nerves.
But this time will be different, for sure. There will be tons more media members present, for one thing. The media coverage at the Winter Games was certainly large in reference to anything I do on a regular basis, but the Summer Games features more athletes and more events, which means even more press. So I know I'll be competing for space with a lot more people.
However, while Sochi and PyeongChang were cities, they are nothing compared to Tokyo, which should provide a daunting task in and of itself just in navigation.
Nonetheless, while there is nervousness, there is also excitement... and that's a good thing.
A reminder, if anyone is interested in helping make the trip a reality, there is a link to the gofundme page at the bottom of this page. Or e-mail me at josh@salmonpress.news if you have questions or comments.

https://www.gofundme.com/b4j4gq-tokyo-2020

Off and running

Today, March 12, marks 500 days until the start of the Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020. While that seems like an awful long time, in preparing to cover the Olympics, it's actually not that much time.
The logistics of planning a trip like this are not simple and there is a lot of time involved. Paperwork needs to be filled out well in advance and deposit checks will have to be sent for accommodations later this year.
So, while it's 500 days until Tokyo, it was time to get started in figuring out exactly how to make this trip work. Over the last eight-plus years I've been honored that many people have supported my quest to cover local Olympians as they pursue their dreams on the snow in Sochi and PyeongChang. It is humbling to me that people appreciate what I do on a regular basis enough to help me chase a ridiculous dream like covering the Olympics. Sochi and PyeongChang were truly a blast and I expect that Tokyo will be much the same.
With that in mind, I decided this time around to start a Go Fund Me page to possibly help raise some of the funds for the trip. I am grateful to anyone who is willing to help out and I am looking forward to a summer adventure next year.
For those who are interested, the link to the gofundme.com page is below. For those who want to help without doing so online, I still have my Olympic Fund bank account set up at TD Bank in Wolfeboro or e-mail me at josh@salmonpress.news for other ways to help out.
Thanks in advance to anyone who is able to help out and thanks to everyone who takes time to read all my musings and reports from far away venues. You are all appreciated.

https://www.gofundme.com/b4j4gq-tokyo-2020

Another step on the road toward Tokyo 2020

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had been approved for credentials for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. This will be my first time covering the Summer Olympics, as my past two Olympic experiences were during the winter months.
This past week, I took the next step toward the trip to Japan becoming a reality next summer. I filled out the forms requesting the accommodations for the two-plus weeks for the Games. This isn’t a huge step, since the accommodations aren’t official until I make my first payment, but this was indeed at least a step forward heading toward Tokyo.
Tokyo is different than the first two Olympics that I attended. In Sochi in 2014, my accommodations in media housing were in what was essentially a hotel room. It was a room with a couple of beds and a bathroom. In PyeongChang in 2018, I stayed in what was essentially an apartment, which had three different rooms, a common area, a kitchen and two bathrooms. Both had their advantages and disadvantages, but in both cases, the housing was located in the media village, with all of the media grouped together.
In Tokyo, the accommodation situation is much different. Instead of staying in a media village, we will all be staying in existing hotels throughout the city. The Tokyo Organizing Committee set aside rooms in numerous hotels for media to stay in and when I was approved for credentials, the committee sent along a list of hotels.
I spent a bunch of time last week pouring over the different hotels, looking to find what made the most sense to me. In both Sochi and PyeongChang, my main priority was pricing and Tokyo was no different. Since paying for the trip is probably different on my end (I rely on lots of people helping me out and pay for some of it myself), pricing is a priority for me and I looked around for what was the best option. I found seven or eight hotels with prices less than $100 a night and then narrowed it down from there, looking at how far they are from the Main Press Center (which is where I’ve spent lots of time the last two Olympics), and what kind of amenities are offered at each hotel.
Our media housing includes breakfast but I was also looking for a place that has a laundromat and/or laundry service to make sure doing that simple task was easy. Once I narrowed things down, I had to select three different choices for accommodations and once I did that, I filed the forms online and sent them in to the organizing committee.
I then spent a little more time looking over the manuals that were available, checking out the transportation system (we get transit cards in addition to the normal buses), the media center services and more. I must say, it’s getting a little exciting thinking about what could be a pretty awesome experience.
I am grateful for all those that have helped me make my first two Olympic experiences a reality. It’s through much generous support from many people that I have been able to travel to Russia and South Korea. I still haven’t decided how to make this trip work, but I am expecting that at some point I will set up a GoFundMe page and I’ve kept my Olympic bank account open at TD Bank in Wolfeboro. Moving forward I will keep people advised if they are interested.

This is the building where the Main Press Center will be located for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.