Tokyo 2020 Olympic fever is not only felt on Earth, but also into space. To enliven this quadrennial sporting event, astronauts living on the International Space Station (ISS) participated in the ‘Space Olympiad’.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet posted four videos to Twitter showing several ISS astronauts competing in several ‘sports’. Because it is located on the ISS, the ‘sport’ being contested adapts to limited area and zero gravity conditions.
The ISS is currently inhabited by seven astronauts from four countries. They are NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, Mark Vande Hey, Shane Kimbrough; Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide; French astronaut Thomas Pesquet; and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov.
Although there were only representatives from four countries, astronauts on the ISS were seen hanging small flags representing the countries participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The first video showcased by Pesquet was a ‘less floor’ exercise. The participating astronauts also exhibited all their special acrobatic movements, which were of course easier to perform thanks to zero gravity.
#Olympic Room 1/4:
The floor lacks routine - a lot for Pyotr for completing his routine without touching anything, a tough performance!
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Off -floor gym - it's not like real estate but Piotr's full flight requires a lot of experience #MissionAlpha pic.twitter.com/gXAHSHHmcu
- Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
Next up is the sport of ‘no-handball’. The four astronauts divided into two teams had to insert the ball into the back door behind the opponent without any contact, except for suffocation.
#Olympic Room 2/4:
Without handball - we have to slightly adjust the rules during the match, a lot of investment on both sides to win.
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Handless baling - the rules had to be adapted in the course of a match that we would describe very much as tight. pic.twitter.com/dVOv3GRThD
- Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
Next is the most adorable sport, which is 'synchronized space swimming' aka beautiful swimming in space. The seven astronauts even prepared special choreography to make their movements look dense.
“A beautiful space swimming - an opportunity to show close cooperation and crew relationships,” Pesquet said in a tweet.
#Olympic Room 3/4:
Coordinated space swim - an opportunity to show teamwork and crew cohesion.
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Synchronized flotation - the opportunity to demonstrate one of an astronaut's most important skills: the team spirit #MissionAlpha pic.twitter.com/Ljo65AkzNQ
- Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
Finally, there is the sport of ‘sharp shooting without weight’ which is similar to archery. But the arrow was replaced with a rubber band and the target was much smaller.
4/4 #Olympic Room:
Sharp shooting without weight - focus and skill (or luck) proved necessary to hit the target.
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Gravity -free shooting - concentration and seriousness topped this test to better negotiate the trajectory of elastics # MissionAlpha pic.twitter.com/eV2cSxEWQ5
- Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
It didn’t stop there, astronauts on the ISS also held a closing ceremony on Sunday (8/8), hours before the 2020 Olympics closing ceremony was held in Tokyo.
During the closing ceremony in space, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide presented the Olympic flag to French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, symbolizing the handover for the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris.
With Aki we took a little advance on the #ClosingCeremony in anticipation of the real relay route # Tokyo2020 -> # Paris2024 on in a few hours
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With @ Tokyo2020 @Olympics ending today and the next #Olympics being @ Paris2024, @Aki_Hoshide and I held a pic.twitter.com/7dpYBr4Xwu party
- Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 8, 2021
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