It’s debateable whether the quirky events from our Lockdown Olympics would ever make it to the world stage, but there certainly was gold all round in terms of sheer fun and mateship during our Games!
With Olympic spirits at an all-time high, Amazon’s operations and corporate teams took their love of the Games to the next level with the Amazon Australia Lockdown Olympics. Competing in a series of events – including the push-up challenge, on-land swimming, touch typing, ‘dress like a cyclist’ and the home-made skateboard ride – our teams from around the country demonstrated determination, team spirit and creativity, while generating medal-worthy smiles and laughs.
Michael, who has been working at our Brisbane delivery station since it opened, says the Tokyo Games and Amazon’s Lockdown Olympics have been something he looks forward to each day while the city is in lockdown.
“It was pretty heart-warming,” says Michael Brucciani, who competed in the push-up event, completing an impressive round of 51 consecutive push ups on the rainbow floor of Brisbane’s fulfilment centre.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to show up the young guys and I was a bit reluctant to even try, but I did and it was such great fun. Our workplace really is just so inclusive and there’s so much support, it’s a great place to work – I enjoy coming to work.”
It’s the spirit of friendly competition, mateship and inclusiveness demonstrated by our athletes in Tokyo that has inspired many Amazonians to join the fun (and at times hotly contested) challenges of our Lockdown Olympics.
Alistair Bate, an associate cloud architect with Amazon’s Public Sector Professional Services Team in Sydney, who won a well-deserved bronze medal for the kayaking prowess he displayed on beautiful Sydney Harbour in the event to show off your best weekend exercise said, “I think our team at Amazon embodies the Olympic qualities of perseverance and comradery.”
“Our ANZ Olympic challenge has been a bit of fun during the otherwise dull lockdown weeks. I generally like to keep active, however, the lockdown challenge has given me a bit extra motivation to not lay in bed all morning and instead do a fun activity before starting the day.”
As the 2020 Tokyo and Amazon Lockdown Olympics both come to an end, we celebrate the diversity and dedication of our athletes, and our team in Australia. We remain committed to creating a safer, more productive, high performing and diverse workplace where we work hard, and have fun while doing it!
