The bus rounded the corner and there they were, the Olympic rings, practically gleaming in the sunlight as if welcoming the busloads of athletes to the world stage.
Elsa kept her earbuds in and didn't move from her seat like so many of the others, whipping out their phones and snapping photos and selfies, crowding the far side of the bus. The trainers and coaches turned a blind eye. There was a pandemic and they should stay apart, but the joy was good for morale and in turn, good for winning. After a few minutes, the athletes settled back into their seats anyway. Though the energy remained alive, buzzing. Elsa could hear the excited chatter through her music. She sighed heavily and pulled her hood up before leaning her head against the window.
She rushed to get off the bus as soon as possible once they parked in the Olympic Village. There was an entire check-in process. More testing. More people. More talking. All Elsa wanted to do was get into the water. It had been a long flight and her muscles were screaming for activity.
Begrudgingly following the directions through the check-in process, Elsa was relieved to finally be able to dump her large amount of bags into her shared room. She had only packed a backpack with a few personal items. Everything else was taken care of by Team USA, right down to the underwear. Which made it nice not to have to worry about packing, yet annoying that she would have to lug back so many bags when this was over.
Sitting down on the small bed, Elsa was surprised that it felt normal. They were made of cardboard and looked fake. There were three other cardboard beds in this pseudo apartment. One shared a room with her and two were nestled next door. There was a small common space housing a single round folding table with five chairs, each the color of one of the Olympic Rings. There was one bathroom with a shower and a space for what should have been a kitchen but it was empty - featuring only bare white walls. Finally, there was a narrow balcony with 'TEAM USA' flags hanging from it. Across the street, the neighboring building was a series of flags of the various teams, also hanging from the balconies and billowing in the light breeze.
The entire thing felt very much like freshman year of college. It was always different with each Olympic Games, but Elsa knew by now to not expect much. The summer athletes normally were shoved into newly constructed, but frankly cheap, apartment buildings. While the winter athletes often were housed in nicer accommodations that would later be nice ski resort hotels, if they weren't already.
"Oh my god! I didn't believe them when they said we were roommates! Oh my god!" A shrill voice shouted, stirring Elsa from her thoughts. She looked over and saw a young girl beaming at her while she dumped her bags on her own bed.
"Hello," Elsa responded, she couldn't remember the girl's name and didn't really care to learn it. She was also on the swim team but Elsa was fairly certain they didn't swim against each other.
"Do you like, want to go to the dining hall together? This is so cool! My roommate is Elsa Anderson. Can we take a selfie?"
"Maybe later, I need to find my coach." Elsa stood and left the room, ignoring the disappointed look on her roommate's face.
They had been in Tokyo for who knows how many days now. Time outside the pool blended into a blur. All Elsa knew was that the opening ceremony was tonight and she was being forced to attend. Somewhere in there was a series of interviews and promos as well. The burden of being the female face of the national swim team was heavy and exhausting. Each medal she won, each record she broke, the media demanded more. She hated every moment in front of a camera.
She adjusted her goggles and stepped up onto the block. The entire team was here, practicing. If she was nostalgic, she would have thought of the good old days, being in school, always practicing as a team, the water forever choppy with the various strokes and kicks. But she had no time for that and she actively chose to ignore how lonely her professional training really was. The accumulation of years of practice, countless laps, hours of training in the water, and even more outside of it.
To her right a coach was shouting at various swimmers, calling them by their names. She didn't bother to meet them or get to know them. A few familiar faces and names, sure, but she didn't know them really. A lot of the team wouldn't even qualify into the finals with her, a friendship would just be a distraction and another disappointment in a long line of disappointments.
A whistle blew somewhere to her left, it wasn't her coach so she remained poised on the starting block. A tall man with wide shoulders entered the water nearly perfectly. He was this year's star swimmer. He didn't necessarily win every world event with a gold medal, but he made the podium and the media was desperate for a new face after Phelps hung up his speedo.
Mr. Golden Boy, that's what Elsa called him in her head. She only knew people by their swimming events and times and only if they competed against her. She didn't know their hobbies, their relationships, or their families. A lot of them hung out outside of practice. But she didn't understand how they had the time. So she just referred to them by nicknames she made up in her head. It was easier, hands-off.
"Take your mark!" Elsa's coach shouted, and she gripped the edge of the block and tensed her muscles. A short burst of a whistle and Elsa was launching forward like a spring.
The water was cold and clear, a mild taste of chlorine crept past her tightly pressed lips but she kept her head tucked between her arms and kicked with both feet. Surfacing in one fluid motion, she broke into her stroke. It was a good dive but it could be better. She swam to the opposite end of the pool and hopped out with ease.
"I want to run the start again," Elsa said to her coach.
"And I want you to practice your turns, so we'll do one more dive. Then I don't want to see you out of this damn pool until our time here is done." His mouth was covered with a mask but his furrowed brow and bulging neck vein were all too visible.
Elsa took the disposable mask from the volunteer nearby and walked back to the opposite end of the large pool.
"...I reckon I'll wear the mirrored ones, they'll look way cooler." Somehow, through all the commotion and noises in the aquatic center, a single voice, with a thick Australian accent broke through.
Elsa looked and saw her rival, Anna Harding standing in the hallway behind the empty stands. She didn't notice Elsa as she was talking with someone, gesturing wildly with her hands. She was a good distance away and Elsa couldn't hear what she was saying. How that one sentence broke through, she'll never know, but it annoyed her.
"Anderson! How hyped are you to be here?" Mr. Golden Boy shouted, he jogged up to walk next to her and waited for a beat for her to answer, never once dropping his wide all-too-white smile. "It's the Olympics! Show, like, a smidge of emotion."
"I've been here before, I'll be here again," Elsa responded, further annoyed now. The two of them had done several interviews together and now the man thought they were friends.
"I like that attitude but dude, live in the moment a bit, alright?" He started to lean to nudge her arm but pulled back. Instead, he gave a quick nod and jogged away.
Elsa took her mask off and dropped it in the bin before climbing back on the block and starting the process all again.
No distractions.
"And it looks like… YES it's Anderson with the Women's 400m gold medal! Followed close behind by Australia's Harding with the bronze going to…"
Elsa stopped listening to the announcers, their voices faded into a sea of various voices in just as many languages. She raised her arm and waved to the cameras. A smile never once crossing her face. A movement to her left caught her attention and she saw the Australian swimmer reaching across the lane rope to shake her hand. Elsa took it and heard the announcers erupt with approval.
"Good on ya, mate, I'll get you in the next one," Anna said through short breaths.
"I'd like to see you try," Elsa mumbled as she made her way to the designated exit area on the side. Once out of the pool she was directed to the media alley for various interviews without being given a moment to catch her breath.
A quick glance over and she saw Anna staying with the bronze place winner, talking to a camera.
"Solo or group interview?" someone was asking her, gesturing towards the camera.
"Solo."