So viewers could watch the space crew competing in a synchronized space swimming game, weightless sharpshooting, lack-of-floor routine, and a no-handball competition. These were not your usual routines and they were in fact harder to master than you would imagine. Take the “lack-of-floor” one for instance, which one of the astronauts was able to complete without touching anything. Not an easy thing to accomplish when you’re floating in zero gravity, with minimum control.
On the other hand, while they didn’t have any Olympics’ equipment and facilities, they also didn’t have to worry about the problems we had to face down here, from heatwaves to pandemics and so on. Not to mention the “competitors” were fit for the job, because, well, they’re astronauts. You don’t get to go to space if you’re a couch potato.
Their Space Olympics were a demonstration of teamwork and crew cohesion, as explained by Pesquet in a tweet.
And because the Olympics ended this Sunday, the astronauts also held a closing ceremony. Thomas Pesquet also played the national anthem of France on saxophone, as France will be the next country to host the Olympic Games in 2024.
This year’s edition took place in Tokyo between July 23 and August 8. The United States got the largest number of medals (113), including gold ones (39 of them). China was in second place with 88 medals, of which 38 were gold ones. Japan took third place, with a total of 58 medals (27 gold ones).
Space #Olympics 3/4:
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
Synchronised space swimming – an opportunity to show teamwork and crew cohesion.
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Flottation synchronisée – l’occasion de démontrer une des plus importantes compétences un astronaute : l’esprit d’équipe #MissionAlpha pic.twitter.com/Ljo65AkzNQ
Avec Aki on a pris un peu d’avance sur la #ClosingCeremony en attendant le vrai passage de relais #Tokyo2020 -> #Paris2024 sur ???? dans quelques heures
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 8, 2021
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With the @Tokyo2020 @Olympics ending today and the next #Olympics to be @Paris2024, @Aki_Hoshide and I held a ceremony pic.twitter.com/7dpYBr4Xwu