“Behind the Mask” is a WNYO podcast now also becoming a column on The Oswegonian that locates international students on campus and alumni living abroad reports on what their experiences have been like overseas coping with COVID-19. Host and columnist Tomas Rodriguez can be reached with tips at 772-333-5501 and on Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.

Jay Holder, a 2005 graduate of SUNY Oswego, was able to experience the historic event first-hand as he served as the deputy venue media manager during the games.

“It was an incredible experience; the experience of a lifetime,” Holder said. “I still really enjoy processing all the things that I saw over there; it was awesome. It’s just a great experience for an old track-and-field fan like myself to get that.”

When he was first hired for this role before the pandemic began, Holder said he was not sure what lied ahead.”

A full stadium, flashbulbs or cheering crowds were some sights Holder thought he would witness.

“As time went on, those expectations changed and I’m not really sure I knew what to expect when the plane took off in June,” Holder said.

The Oswego alum was in Japan for nine weeks.

“I would say that it was a lot more normal than I expected,” Holder said. “I anticipated no one on the streets and a quiet city. It wasn’t really like that at all. While I know there were issues around whether the people of Japan wanted the games to be there, they were as welcoming as they’re known for – as a culture and as a country.”

Holder explained how long it took to get into the country and aside from having to fill out paperwork at the Japan consulate in the U.S., Holder said once in Japan he went through about two hours of processing at the airport. That included a PCR test, checking the paperwork and examining the test he had completed stateside prior to his departure, he said.

“Once that was done, I was put in a van and taken to a hotel in Tokyo where I stayed for two full weeks – 16 total days,” Holder said. “I stayed in my room for the entire time; I was not allowed to leave and I was not allowed to interact with the other people in that hotel face-to-face who were also members of the Tokyo 2020 staff.”

While he was there, Holder said the staff were tested frequently and had meals delivered to their door.

“We couldn’t go out to exercise – any of those things,” he said. “It was a very strict quarantine, and I think that speaks to the precautions that were put in place by the organizers of the Olympics locally and internationally to ensure that these games were safe.”

In the run-up to the opening and closing ceremonies, Holder said he was wondering what that was going to look like without a crowd.

“I thought it was pretty amazing how good of a job the producers and the directors of both ceremonies did in making sure that it was really focused on the television audience,” Holder said. “Being able to watch it through that lens in the stadium and knowing that ‘this must look really cool on TV,’ was pretty neat.”