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The Tokyo Olympics threatened: the five questions we ask ourselves

2021-01-22T16:16:40.020Z


As the health crisis worsens and a state of emergency has been declared in the capital of Japan, rumors about whether or not


Will athletes see Tokyo next summer?

As the health crisis worsens, speculation is rife about the continuation of the Olympic Games, scheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021 and already postponed for the first time to last spring.

1. What is the situation in Japan?

The Olympic spirit no longer really hangs over Tokyo.

As a state of emergency has been declared to curb a third wave, 80% of Japanese people no longer want to see the Games take place on their soil next summer.

And the politicians get involved.

According to the English daily Times

,

the Japanese government would have noted the impossibility of organizing the competition, information denied in the wake of the Japanese Prime Minister ... that the rumor said however was ready to press the stop button.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is round back, hammering that no "plan B" was planned.

The speculations which follow one another - sometimes in favor of maintenance, sometimes in favor of an annulment - annoyingly recall those of last spring.

Tokyo and the IOC held firm, before finally agreeing to a postponement.

2. Can the Olympic Games still be postponed?

The situation is unthinkable, especially since the postponement from 2020 to 2021 has added 1.6 billion euros to a pharaonic budget of 13 billion euros.

While the organizing committee had also had to fight to maintain infrastructure (especially the athletes' village and the Olympic stadium) dedicated to reconversion, the international federations had turned their calendars upside down and the marketing programs that went with it.

Suffice to say that for Tokyo, it's 2021 or never.

Or maybe 2032 as some suggest.

The hypothesis is plausible, even if the IOC will have to modify the process of awarding the Olympic Games for this, as was the case for the 2024 and 2028 Games. On the other hand, the idea of ​​the British rower, Matthew Pinsent, to shift the holding of the next summer Olympics by organizing those in Tokyo in 2024, those in Paris in 2028 and those in Los Angeles in 2032 appears very far-fetched.

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3. Can the IOC have their hand forced?

In March 2020, Canada and Australia, two major Olympic nations, announced their intention to boycott the Games if they were kept on their original date.

Athletes, sponsors, broadcasters and more than 200 national Olympic committees or sports federations made their voices heard to put pressure on the IOC and the Japanese government.

At the time, beyond the fears related to the nascent pandemic, it was also the inequity in the preparation of champions that was a problem.

The scenario is different this year.

The United States, Canada and Australia confirm today that they are preparing as planned.

For the moment…

4. Can the vaccine be a game-changer?

"We plan to take comprehensive measures to organize a safe and secure Games even without making the vaccine a condition," said Japanese government spokesman Katsunobu Katō.

Thomas Bach had already ruled out on several occasions forcing athletes to be vaccinated.

However, the organizers encourage as many people as possible (competitors, officials, journalists…) to do so before going to Tokyo.

While the vaccination campaign has started in most Western countries, much less in emerging countries, the Japanese authorities are waiting for the end of February and a battery of tests at the national level.

But there will be no miracle cure until July 23.

The Covid-19 will not have disappeared.

And the concept of "sanitary bubble" is a huge challenge for an event of this scale (11,000 athletes to speak only of athletes).

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5. Games at a discount?

If they are held, the Olympics will be less sumptuous than usual.

The scale of the opening and closing ceremonies will be drastically reduced, in particular the traditional parade of delegations.

Athletes will not be able to enter the Olympic Village more than five days before their competition and must leave the premises two days later at the latest.

As for the spectators, all the options are possible: international public with health constraints (quarantine, vaccine ...) and risk of logistical headaches, local spectators only or, extreme solution, a total closed door which the organizers refused to think of there. little.

“They must abandon the idea of ​​celebrating the century by inviting people from different countries,” explains the president of the Tokyo Medical Association.

"It is better to be behind closed doors than not at all", summarizes Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2021-01-22

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