Four years after the Rio 2016 Olympics, people were expecting another astounding sporting celebration but, instead of world records, medals and champions, the world got Covid-19. All the excitement of the first-ever games with new competitions such as skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing was abruptly terminated. In March of last year, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and the Japanese Prime Minister postponed the games to 2021. Yet, during the past 11 months, many challenges have been faced. Not only has it been difficult for athletes to train in many countries, with new variants spreading and most of Japan's population and many athletes not being vaccinated, but the spreading of the virus is also difficult to prevent.
Presently, about 10,000 volunteers for the games have dropped out of the event, leaving about 30,000. “Though officials did not say why most of the 10,000 volunteers quit, it is likely tied to the pandemic” (CNN). A recent poll done by Asahi News Network reported, about 65% of the population wanted further postponement or cancellation of the event. In addition, during early June, the number of fans allowed to watch the events was 0, that month they announced that local fans would be allowed up to 50% capacity but, this ruling does not count for the Paralympic Games yet. This ruling will be declared for mid-July. The fans must wear masks and will have to go home instantly after the end of the competition. Foreign fans are still not allowed to travel to Japan for the games.
An additional point is the percentage of people vaccinated in Japan. Currently, 6.5% of the population has received a vaccine.. In contrast, the ideal vaccination percentage for herd immunity is between 75% and 85%. The spread of the virus has many Japanese extremely worried. An Anti-Olympic movement has been protesting on the streets and against the event. One of the activists, Misako Ichimura, stated: “Gold medals are being given priority over people’s lives. Please speak out against this,”. (Wall Street Journal).
With less than a month to go, the probability of cancelling the Olympics is extremely low because the IOC and Japanese authorities have repeatedly communicated that the games will occur. For reference, the only Olympics games that were cancelled so far were during World War 1 and 2. The IOC stated last year that the postponement of the Olympics games could not be on a later date. If that was to be the case the games would be completely cancelled. Seiko Hashimoto (committee president of the games) was reassuring that the event has been planned out very carefully in order to protect everyone's health. She also empathises with the athletes who have had an extremely tough year and now with the last qualifications for the games happening athletes can showcase their talents. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they (athletes) can compete in the Games," Hashimoto conveyed. (Found in Reuters-from BBC)
Needless to say, most of the world looks forward to the Olympics, yet this time it comes with a lot of risks. It's a difficult situation and will have to be performed exceptionally careful to prevent more infections.
Additional note:
A few weeks after this article was written on July 8th, Japan decided that the country will enter a state of emergency which means that there will be no audience watching the athletes.
Anna. H
Works Cited:
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Long, Kat. “6 Times the Olympics Have Been Postponed or Canceled.” Mental Floss, Mental Floss, 24 Mar. 2020, www.mentalfloss.com/article/621139/olympics-postponed-or-canceled.
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Berkeley, Geoff. “Protesters against the Olympics.” Poll Says Majority of Japanese Public Do Not Want Olympic Games to Happen This Year, Inside the Games, 3 Mar. 2021, www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1104918/poll-shows-japanese-public-against-games.