While many of you were watching the empty opening ceremonies of the delayed 2020 Olympics due to a 13-hour delay, I was watching in Tokyo and marveling at the end of a storied career in gymnastics.The men's qualifying competition was predictable. Japan, China, and the Russian Olympic Committee were the top three. Two U.S. men made it to the all-around, while several others qualified for individual events. Kohei Uchimura (2012 and 2016 all-around medalists) was the greatest male gymnast ever. He fell from the horizontal bar (or high bars), which was the only event that he was scheduled to compete in at his valedictory Games. *AdvertisementAt 32, King Koheiwinner, who has won an incredible 28 Olympic and world medals, wanted to make a final swing on his signature apparatus in front of his home crowd. It was a spectacular exercise. Uchimura had previously clocked an astounding 15.766, which would have made him a medal contender.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe unthinkable happened instead: Uchimura's rafter-kissing release moves were perfected and his normally precise hand fell off during a complex, dizzying pirouette sequence. He was left smacking the mat before his dismount. He was deposed with a 13.866the fall as they do.AdvertisementHis face was an incomprehensible expression of the consummate sportsman he was even at the end. His teammates' faces were more affected by the shock and grief than the rest of us, as we suffered yet another year of heartbreak.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis year, which lasted 19 months and was not ending soon, has been a disaster for gymnastics. It's been a horrible nightmare for humanity. So why would an elite sport like gymnastics, with a training program so meticulous that they planned 2020 in 2015, escape this calamity?The Tokyo live stream was able to show some of 2020's pain (when ads weren't interrupting the flow). Artur Dalaloyan was once a near lock as a medal threat in a strong field. However, he injured his Achilles in April training. This is a terrible injury in gymnastics and should be treated as a death. It can also kill a career. Although he made it through surgery and training to make it to Friday's all-around final, it was difficult to not feel terror at the danger he was putting on his body. The injury to Dalaloyans, which did not spell the end of his career, reminds the gym community of more 2020-21 heartbreak. It is the absence of the Olympic champions on the women's side, such as Becky Downie in Britain and Riley McCusker from the U.S., who were either injured or sidelined during this year.AdvertisementAdvertisementYou can see him fly, even if you are just a casual observer at a meet, and you take in his breath.Yet, this is a small amount compared to Uchimuras fall. He was aware of his impending retirement. In fact, he knew it was near the end of his career before the postponement. But he kept his hands on his dowels for this moment: the chance to win the Olympic gold medal in front of a (absent) home crowd. To understand why the sport's greatest male gymnast (or vice-GOAT, if he is being called) is so devastated, one must first understand his career of greatness.Simone Biles was an international celebrity for her unique combination of power and form, difficulty and work ethic. Uchimura, however, was loved in smaller but dedicated households for the same combination of gifts, sportsmanship, and talent.AdvertisementAt the age of 18, he joined the Japanese national team and helped them win silver at the 2008 Beijing Games. He also took the individual all-around medal, which was the first such individual silver for a Japanese athlete in over two decades. Uchimura made his debut in the 2009 season as an unstoppable force. In 2007, he won the World Championships. He also won again in 2013, 2014, and 2015. He won gold in the Olympics in 2012, even though Worlds were not being held. A dominant athlete was rare in the pre-Biles age. They called him Superman.He was virtually untouchable for almost a decade. His twisting speed was the first.AdvertisementHis beautiful body and impeccable form were also on full display at events like parallel bars. His legs looked longer, straighter, and more connected than ever, with his pointed toes and stretched back, and his splits looking even better. Even if you're just a casual observer at a meet, you can watch him fly and catch your breath. Then there was his difficulty. This is most evident in events like the high-stakes bar. His recent 15.766 result was due in large part to his 6.6 difficulty rating. In every way, he was amazing.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis end of his career has become, for me at least, a symbol of all the pain, loss, and grief that the pandemic caused. In the insipid plot of this true-life disaster movie, the redemption story we've been waiting for over a year is not going to happen. It seemed almost like a prewritten story for Uchimura to overcome all of it. Once on the stage at home and at the Olympics, he would amaze us all and win in the end. Supermanand, as you all know, the worldate mat, were instead defeated. I was moved to tears watching Uchimura fall, not only because of his past glory but also because of the present. Sureits just gymnastics. The flop at the important moment is almost too much to handle as a symbol of everything else.AdvertisementThis was the end of his career. Now, however, the fall is as etched in his permanent story arc as the memory of that empty arena. How does this fit into his remarkable legacy and into the legacy of that difficult year in gymnastics.AdvertisementIt is tempting to just say that we should focus on his extraordinary reign and not how he left. Although it is tempting to be bitter about the fact that my father will not be remembered, we should rejoice in the fact that we had the opportunity to have the honor. This era of world history and gymnastics will one day be documented and historicalized. Then, we'll be able to place the incredible Tokyo Olympics in it. The meaning of the greatest-ever male faceplant by a gymnast will then be obvious. However, for now, it is only obvious that this happened and that it was sad. But regardless, the gymnastics community should honor its King.
