Minced up Olympics would be a disaster

In 1906, organisers decided to break tradition by holding what they hoped would be the first biennial Olympic Games. Rather than every four years, as was the plan when the modern Olympics were launched in 1896, they wanted an edition to be held every two years.

Hosted by Athens, it was a complete flop and the idea was scrapped.

The Olympics works the way it is, and it relies on a few aspects to succeed.

So it’s starting to seem very desperate that the organisers of the Tokyo Games have still not called it off.

Aside from issues that are almost certainly going to affect the performance levels and depth across the board – including challenges around preparation and qualifying – the most important key to the Games could be missing – fans from around the world.

Without spectators, the Olympics will be without the melting pot of people who flock to the showpiece and give the Games its flavour on the sidelines of the action.

It would be missing the very concept that gave the ancient

Olympics its foundation: bringing people together and putting conflict on hold to celebrate human performance in friendly battle.

Considering the financial consequences of scratching the Games for the first time since World War II, after they invested so much in it, it’s not a surprise that the Tokyo organisers do not want to make a final decision.

But they still seem insistent that it will go ahead, and each day this pandemic continues without a global solution, it seems more likely that they’re bordering on the edge of delusion.

Even if they are somehow able to pull it off, the Games will almost certainly be missing crucial elements which will remove much of the attraction the event offers to those who want to watch or experience it.

In 1906, they learned that the Olympics works with the structure it has, and tinkering with it is risky.

Chopping it to bits and trying to offer a minced product would be an absolute disaster.

It’s a tough decision to make, but it’s probably best just to pull the plug, take the punches that come with it and hope that international sporting bodies can help bail them out of the deepening, helpless well in which the pandemic has left Japan’s Olympic dreams.

The Tokyo Games would be awesome, but leaders must make difficult choices, and it seems the only one left for the organisers to press the ‘cancel’ button.