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Sports Tokyo Olympics The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for summer 2020, were postponed to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. They run from July 23 until Aug. 8, 2021. Pandemic
Protocols In Tokyo Have Given Us An Adorable New Olympic Tradition By Emily Alfin Johnson Published July 29, 2021 at 11:31 AM EDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Charly Triballeau / AFP via
Getty ImagesGold medalists Romania's Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis celebrate on the podium following the women's double sculls final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Sea Forest
Waterway in Tokyo on July 28, 2021.
Pandemic protocols have kept Olympic venues primarily fan-free, required extra precautions and testing for athletes and staff and prevented many loved ones from cheering their teams on in
person.
But one COVID-19 concession may actually make for a beautiful new Olympic tradition.
Athletes on the podium are helping each other don their medals Mohd Rasfan / AFP via Getty Images /AFP via Getty ImagesSouth Korean fencers receive gold medals for men's team sabre fencing at the Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba City, Japan, on Wednesday.
In years past, dignitaries would place medals around each winner's neck on the podium.
This year, officials are presenting athletes with their medals on a tray, from which they can then theoretically put them on themselves. But with the flowers and the masks, it can be a lot
to juggle.
Kazuhiro Fujihara / AFP via Getty Images / AFP via Getty ImagesJapan's softball team watches player Yukiko Ueno (fourth from right) place a gold medal on catcher HarukaAgatsuma (third from right) on Tuesday. Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita (lower left) holds the tray during the medal ceremony at the Yokohama Baseball Stadium in
Yokohama, Japan.
So some Olympians are giving each other a hand, in what might just be the most pure example of teamwork at this year's Games.
Tauseef Mustafa / AFP via Getty Images / AFP via GettyImagesChina's Yang Qian (left) and Yang Haoran put gold medals on each other during the 10 meter air rifle mixed team medal ceremony at the Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo on Tuesday.
This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog.
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