Olympics call tells us how serious it is

WE don’t want to come across as too moralistic and judgemental, people in this country were queuing in large numbers for fish and chips last weekend after all, so seeing over fifty thousand people gather to see the Olympic flame in Sendai last weekend shouldn’t be altogether that surprising to us or anyone else. Human nature is human nature regardless of where you are in the world. Still it was an extra-ordinarily ill-judged move by the Tokyo 2020 organising committee to allow such a thing to happen. If anybody was aware of the seriousness of the situation surely it was them. For at least two or three weeks there have been discussions about whether or not the games would go ahead.

Whatever about the public health implications of such a mass gathering – not good we’d imagine – it sent out a terrible signal to the rest of the world, to competitors and to national committees. It was probably the single moment which crystallised in people’s minds that holding the games this year was not a good idea.

Probably the decision would have come regardless, almost certainly it would, but what happened in Sendai was likely the catalyst for the spate of announcements and statements on Sunday and Monday from athletes and Olympic bodies around the world.

Once Canada pulled the plug, once Australia pulled the plug, the game was up and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee – the IOC – had no choice but to defer the games a year when they spoke on Tuesday afternoon.

That it was inevitable doesn’t make it any less monumental, of course. This is the Olympic games we’re talking about here. The IOC is a law unto itself – almost literally so, given the conditions it imposes on host nations. They don’t bow to anyone or anything. That even they have had to bend tells you the seriousness of the times in which we’re living. It reminds us that even when the worst of this is over, it will be a while before we get back to normal, particularly when it comes to international travel.

It’s far from ideal for athletes preparing for these games. People who have been building up for four or even eight years to peak in Japan next July and August have seen plans and programmes destroyed by the delay. It’ll take all their ingenuity and patience to peak again next year. No doubt they’ll find a way to go higher, faster, stronger and no doubt we’ll all be glued to it when it does take place next year.