The Olympics in Tokyo might be drawing to a conclusion but while the games on Earth will pause for three years until Paris 2024, the games in space are just heating up.
Yes, you read that correctly, there were sporting events in space this year. Unfortunately, they weren't officially linked to the Olympics but the current inhabitants of the International Space Station have been taking part in their own sports this year, complete with their own unique zero-gravity twists.
French astronaut, Thomas Pesquet, has been documenting the events on his Twitter account. The first-ever Space Olympics involved four sports, two teams and seven athletes.
Les 1ers Jeux spatiaux ! 1 samedi après-midi sur l’ISS. 4 disciplines. 7 athlètes. 2 équipes. Et la cohésion au sein de l’équipage boostée comme jamais ! #Olympics
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
The first Space Olympics. 4 disciplines. 7 athletes. 2 teams, and a boost for crew cohesion. pic.twitter.com/IFsnobXsTT
The first event was the ‘lack of floor routine’ - a take on gymnastics which was won by Russia’s Pyotr Dubrov who managed to avoid touching anything during his very creative routine.
Space #Olympics 1/4:
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
Lack-of-floor routine – much 👏 to Pyotr for completing his routine without touching anything, a difficult feat!
🥇
Gym hors-sol – on ne dirait pas comme ça, mais les immobilisations en plein vol de Piotr requièrent une grande expérience#MissionAlpha pic.twitter.com/gXAHSHHmcu
Next up was the ‘no handball’ event which involved the astronauts using only their breath to push around a ping-pong ball and try to score a goal. This finished 1-0 to a team comprised of a Russian and an American astronaut.
Space #Olympics 2/4:
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
No-handball – we had to adapt the rules a bit during the match, much investment on both sides for the win.
🏐
Handball sans les mains – les règles ont dû être adaptées au cours d’un match que nous décrirons sobrement comme intense. pic.twitter.com/dVOv3GRThD
Who needs water when you don’t have gravity? That is clearly the mentality that the ISS astronauts had when the two teams put together a sensational synchronised space swimming final, complete with music and some eye-catching moves.
Space #Olympics 3/4:
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
Synchronised space swimming – an opportunity to show teamwork and crew cohesion.
🤝
Flottation synchronisée – l’occasion de démontrer une des plus importantes compétences un astronaute : l’esprit d’équipe #MissionAlpha pic.twitter.com/Ljo65AkzNQ
The final event was ‘weightless sharpshooting’ which involved participants firing elastic bands at a motionless target suspended in the middle of a corridor.
Space #Olympics 4/4:
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 6, 2021
Weightless sharpshooting – concentration and skill (or luck) proved necessary to reach the target.
🎯
Tir sans gravité – concentration et persévérance ont dicté cette épreuve pour bien négocier la trajectoire des élastiques#MissionAlpha pic.twitter.com/eV2cSxEWQ5
There was even a closing ceremony.
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
🇯🇵🤜🤛🇫🇷
With the @Tokyo2020 @Olympics ending today and the next #Olympics to be @Paris2024, @Aki_Hoshide and I held a ceremony pic.twitter.com/7dpYBr4Xwu
Pesquet hasn’t actually disclosed who won the first-ever space Olympics but it’s the taking part that counts, right? We can only hope they do the same again in three years time when Paris 2024 rolls around.
