Today I took a ride out to the shooting venue here at the Tokyo Olympics, Asaka Shooting Range. It was a little less than an hour ride out to the range. I didn't really go there to cover anything in particular, but rather to see the venue, see a unique sport and maybe see some parts of Japan that I hadn't seen yet.
So far in the week that I've been here and in the five-plus days that I have been allowed to leave my hotel room, I have seen a number of venues and events. I've checked out the one that probably gets the most play back in the United States on NBC, the Tokyo Aquatics Center, where I saw some swimming on my first night and some diving the next night. Until last night, when I went back to Yokohama Stadium to see baseball (same venue as softball gold medal game), it was the only venue I had been to twice.
My first trip out was to Odaiba Marine Park for the triathlon on Monday, I also hit up the historic Nippon Budokan for some judo and Shiokaze Park for beach volleyball. I went to both of the "urban sports parks" for events, with a trip to Aomi Urban Sports Park for the 3X3 basketball finals (sport climbing is also being held there) and to the Ariake Sports Park for BMX racing (skateboarding is also held there). I took in volleyball at the Ariake Arena, which along with the sports park, gymnastics arena and tennis park, are located in a small area near the media center and made a trip a bit further for weightlifting at the Tokyo International Forum, which had to be the most confusing venue I've been to in all three of my Olympic experiences.
I saw rugby at Tokyo Stadium, which was a bit of a trip from the Main Press Center and visited the Sea Forest Waterway to watch rowing, which was a bit shorter trip. And yesterday I got to see the Kasai Canoe Slalom Center, which was a cool venue that I pass by every morning on the way from the hotel but had not been to.
In my Winter Olympics experiences, I have been able to visit almost every venue, but in the Summer Olympics, that is just not possible. First and foremost, most of the soccer games are played in far flung locations from Tokyo, with the marathon and race walking happening on a totally different island. The mountain biking, road cycling and track cycling are near the Fuji Speedway, while sailing is also a bit of a trip away. I made the decision to not go to surfing simply because it was such a long trip and would likely eat up most of the day and there was no guarantee they would even compete on the day you go because, obviously, surfing is weather-dependent. Unfortunately, it is just not feasible to see all the cool places that these events take place.
There's still some venues on my list in the next week-plus. Tonight I am heading to Saitama Super Arena for basketball, I have wrestling at Makuhari Messe Hall and gymnastics at Ariake Gymnastics Center on my list (the latter is a 'hope to cover' event, since I need special tickets). There's also the Olympic Stadium where former UNH standout Elle Purrier will compete on Monday and the Oi Hockey Stadium. I'm hoping to see the Equestrian Park and some water polo at Tatsumi Water Polo Center and maybe some table tennis at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
There are plenty of great places to go and only so much time to go there. Unfortunately.
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