Between the virus and the void, sport

Tokyo Olympic Stadium.CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP

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Never have some Games been doomed to the ghostly sensation that those that are inaugurated today in Tokyo a year late, without an audience in the stadiums or tourists in the city. Not even the pandemic has been able to completely with the appointment par excellence of sport. There has been no lack of voices against the event - 70% of the Japanese population against, according to polls, in a country of 126 million inhabitants in which only 21% have received full vaccination. Nor have there been a lack of retiring sponsors, in the case of Toyota. Despite the tides against, the Japanese Government and the IOC have gone ahead with a project budgeted at 13,430 million euros. The Olympic body guarantees an approximate collection of 3,000 million, while Japan estimates losses of 800.A figure that would skyrocket in the event of cancellation due to having to assume the corresponding penalties. “We have doubted every day”, the German Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, has come to say these days.

The sleepless nights grew when Tokyo first banned foreign visitors and later vetoed even local spectators, a harsh but prudent decision in health terms. The Games never seen. Although all disciplines have already suffered since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the prospect of a Games without the emotional motor of the public, without passion in the stands, causes desolation. It is hard to imagine the opening parade with the concrete in the air. And what will become of the champion alone on the podium? And the Olympic tours of the stadium? Athletes are aware of the void and there are already many who have proclaimed their unique roadmap: arrive as soon as possible, participate as soon as possible and leave as soon as possible. And not only because of the disappointment of competing without the priceless support of the public,but because of the infinite obstacles derived from the pandemic. Controls and more controls in an Olympic village turned into a tedious and cumbersome bubble for more than 11,000 athletes, all at the expense of a positive that does not force them to give up the Olympic dream, for many that of a lifetime.

The prolegomena have been marked by problems. The head of the organizing committee left office due to sexist statements; the one at the opening ceremony, when his old, unacceptable comments about the Holocaust surfaced; there have been protests by athletes due to difficulties in reconciling with their babies. Future development is a colossal challenge for the Government of Japan. A new viral wave caused by the Olympic event would be a blow of unthinkable consequences.

So the Games begin. They will be “telegames”, and each day they will emphasize the famous allegory of Mario Benedetti: “An empty stadium is the skeleton of a crowd”. It will be sad, but inside the skeleton they will be them: the athletes. Even in these conditions, they will be able to inspire and excite large masses - young and old - with their deeds, with their values ​​of self-denial, companionship, and fair play. Hopefully the skill of the athletes and the light of the Olympic flame can compensate a little for a gloomy and dark world.