The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics was one of the largest and highly anticipated sports events of 2020, being the first Summer Olympics in Asia since Beijing 2008. However, with COVID-19 on the loose, the XXXII Olympiad has sadly been postponed to next year. With the situation at hand, how sure are the Olympiad organizers that COVID-19 would no longer be a danger by 2021? If it is, wouldn't it still be a risk to the Olympic athletes? And so the main question we all are asking is, "Should the show still go on?"
The Japanese Government and the International Olympics Committee (IOC) is deliberating on the status of the Summer Olympics. Three options have since come to light: (1) Push through in 2021, (2) postpone the event to 2022, or (3) cancel the event altogether.
Should the event push through in 2021, the games will run from July 23, 2021 to August 8, 2021, with the Paralympics event happening on August 24, 2021 to September 5, 2021. An advantage to this is that the delay allows the Olympic athletes to further improve their skills in preparation for the games happening in 2021, as said by Turkish hammer thrower Ozkan Baltaci. However, a disadvantage will be the uncertainty of how things would look like then. Right now, the Japanese government is doing everything they can in order to implement the best safety precautions in the Olympics Village. Some safety precautions include limiting the number of representatives from each country, testing for COVID-19 before and after entering Japan, and requiring a 14-day quarantine. In addition, the opening and closing ceremonies will be simplified as well. Despite being one of the options being considered by the Japanese government and the IOC, most of the Japanese public do not support the idea of having the games in 2021. This is because of the looming threat of COVID-19 and the uncertainty of a vaccine's presence for this virus. According to a survey done by Kyodo News, "...Fewer than 1 [out of] 4 people in Japan want the Tokyo Olympics to go forward as scheduled..."
Having the Summer Olympics occur in 2022 would negatively impact the host country, the Olympics athletes, and bring postponements for the future Olympic events. This would be due to athletes' financial and age constraints and a possible domino effect of postponements to the future Olympics.
As for the option to cancel Tokyo 2020 altogether, this was ruled out by the IOC. According to a study at Oxford University, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics originally had a budget of $15.84 billion, making this the most expensive Olympics. This has yet to include the several hundred billion yen cost caused by the event's delay. Naturally, investors would want a return on their investment, leaving organizers in a tight spot, pressuring organizers to be more active with their plans. These circumstances have led to the decision to have the event push through by 2021. The Japanese government and the IOC believe that holding the Olympics in 2021 could serve as a way of showing that COVID-19 is not going to stop society from progressing. According to IOC Vice President John Coates, "These will be the Games that conquered COVID, the light at the end of the tunnel."
The 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics is evidence that Japan has already dealt with health complications before. So doesn't this show that the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics can be successful as well? Besides, the fact that the Tour de France and the US Open, which took place in 2020, were successful with their implementation of safety precautions is proof.
During this demanding quarantine, the Olympics could provide a sense of unity and hope to sports fans and athletes worldwide. Different people of different ethnic backgrounds and cultures watching this momentous event together, even if it is just through digital screens, could provide the sense of togetherness we currently require. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics could provide us with the optimism needed to get by in this day-and-age. There have always been impending threats, whether from people, natural disasters, or diseases, but that should not hinder us from being united. If the show does go on, the Olympics could set the stage and represent an era of conquering the most dire situations.
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