Out of global upheaval, a new Olympic spirit
Evangelia Platanioti presses her palms and toes into the blue exercise mat in a pushup position, then nonchalantly brings her right leg past her head. In a move that would defy the czarinas of Twister, she proceeds to lift her back foot off the ground and balances a midair split on – get this – one bent elbow.
“Hold on this pose,” says the Greek Olympian into the camera, as her country’s flag flutters in the background. Ducking under her extended calf, she asks, “Can you see me?”
“Yeah, we see you perfect!” exclaims four-time Olympic medalist Andrea Fuentes from her California living room, where the Spanish champion-turned-U.S. team coach is running the first-ever worldwide workout for artistic swimming (formerly known as synchronized swimming) on Zoom.
More than 300 swimmers are following Ms. Platanioti’s lead from Austria to New Zealand, where it is 3 a.m. On plush carpets and sun-drenched terraces, they spend 1 1/2 hours copying the movements of more than two dozen of the best athletes in the sport, beamed via a laptop or phone into their homes. Meanwhile, some 6,000 viewers watch live, leaving a running commentary filled with emoji and frequent invocations of their favorite champion’s name followed by “YAAASSSSSS.”
Welcome to being an Olympian in quarantine.
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Under normal circumstances, the world’s best athletes would be meeting in Tokyo in late July in hopes of experiencing the pinnacle of what they’ve spent decades sweating and sacrificing for: standing on the Olympic podium, medals draped around their necks, as they listen to their national anthems and the rest of the world looks on rapturously.
Instead, they are coming off what may be the most bizarre few months of training in Olympic history. Now, as they peel themselves off in-home workout mats and head
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