Pushing off Tokyo Olympic Games right call, even if it doesn’t feel good
What’s right doesn’t always feel good. It doesn’t necessarily provide comfort, or a measure of satisfaction.
What has been known for days now is now official, the Tokyo Games will not be held as scheduled this summer. Or anytime in 2020.
“The Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community,” the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers said in a joint statement.
While the announcement brings clarity to the athletes who’ve been on edge, anxious because they couldn’t train or fearful they were putting the health of themselves and those around them at risk, there’s no joy in finally seeing it happen.
The Olympics are supposed to be a celebration of the human spirit, not a bow to human frailties.
Postponing the Games isn’t, as IOC president Thomas Bach said last weekend, like canceling “a football match next Saturday.”
Thousands and thousands of people have put all of their energies and much time into these Games, from the athletes to the IOC officials and Tokyo organizers to the people of Japan. They did it knowing how proud they’d be when the Games were over, how gratifying it would feel to see those many years of sweat and sacrifice pay off.
And now, through no fault of their own, it’s not going to happen. That’s as depressing as it is heartbreaking.
Yes, the Games will be held eventually. Soon enough, even, that the Games will keep their 2020 moniker.
But while a year or less might seem short in the grand scheme of things, in Olympic time it’s an eternity. Olympic athletes have such a narrow window as it is, even the shortest delay will slam it shut for some. Others will get injured, or be overtaken by someone stronger or faster or younger
For those who have worked on the Games, be it as part of the organizing committee or the crews who built venues, it has to feel as if someone has picked up the finish line and moved it out of sight. It will take hours and hours, detailed spreadsheets and a mind-numbing number of conference calls and meetings to reconfigure the plans and details that have been seven years in the making. That’s psychologically devastating, and physically draining.
The Japanese people had been looking forward to welcoming the world to their home, showing off their vibrant and beautiful city. There are always concerns and complaints in the host city about the bloated budget, and Tokyo is no different. A Games that was initially projected to cost $7.3 billion now has an operating budget of at least $12.6 billion, and it will balloon further because of the delay.
Bach said he could not guarantee all elements of the Games would remain as initially planned. For example, he did not know what would happen with the athletes’ village, where apartments were set to be sold after the Games this year.
“This is one of the many thousands of questions this task force will have to address. We hope and we will do whatever we can so that there is an Olympic village, the village is where the heart of the Games beat,” he said.
“We are in an unprecedented situation. I guess these postponed Olympic Games will need sacrifices, will need compromises by all stakeholders,” he added.
But as the Games get closer, any resentment is replaced – temporarily, at least – by satisfaction in a challenge met and pride in knowing your city and country will be the center of the world’s attention. Look at the thousands of people who turned out just to get a glimpse of the Olympic flame after it arrived in Japan from Greece last weekend.
Tokyo is being talked about all right, but for all the wrong reasons. For only the fourth time since the modern Olympics began in 1896, the Summer Games will not be held as scheduled. The other three were due to world wars being waged.
The Games had to be postponed, everybody knows that. The World Health Organization has said COVID19 is “accelerating,” with nearly 400,000 confirmed cases around the world and more than 17,000 deaths. In Spain, there are so many bodies that an ice skating rink in Madrid is now operating as a makeshift morgue.
With no vaccine and no treatment, there’s no telling when this all ends. Until it does, the idea of bringing hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world together is not only foolish, it’s reckless.
“President Bach and Prime Minister Abe expressed their shared concern about the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and what it is doing to people’s lives and the significant impact it is having on global athletes’ preparations for the Games,” the joint statement from the IOC and Tokyo organizers said.
The athletes and organizers understand this. So do the fans and the people of Japan.
But it still hurts. To have the Games moved once again out of reach, right when they were so close, is heartbreaking and it’s going to take some time to get over it. Maybe until the Games take place. For some people, though, maybe never.
Postponing the Games was the right and responsible thing to do. But that doesn’t mean anyone has to be happy about it. (USA Today/TNS)