IOC approach is laughable ... postpone Olympics now
CORONAVIRUS may have wiped out almost the entire sporting calendar, but there is one major event that is, as yet, untouched; the Olympic Games.
With the seemingly endless list of competitions that have been cancelled or postponed, from almost all European football leagues to rugby’s Six Nations, from the NBA to the Giro d’Italia, the pandemic has, understandably, wreaked havoc on the sporting world.
And yet the Olympic Games are immune.
The Games organisers have maintained that amid the chaos being caused by the global pandemic, the Olympics, which are due to begin in just four months time, will continue as planned.
At the weekend, Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, said the Olympics would still go ahead despite the coronavirus while earlier this week, Japan’s Olympic minister maintained that the country is still planning for a “complete” hosting of the Tokyo Olympics that will be held on time, with spectators in attendance.
However, the organisers, as well as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been on the receiving end of some scathing criticism as a result of their insistence that plans for the Games remain unaltered.
In the past few days,
Greece’s Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi said the IOC was “risking our health” with their plans to continue as normal with the Games, IOC member Hayley Wickenheiser from Canada said that plans for the Tokyo Games to go ahead are “insensitive and irresponsible” and Britain’s world champion heptathlete Katarina JohnsonThompson said training had become “impossible”.
The IOC met on Tuesday and in response to the criticism, said: “This is an exceptional situation which requires exceptional solutions. The IOC is committed to finding a solution with the least negative impact for the athletes, while protecting the integrity of the competition and the athletes’ health.
“No solution will be ideal in this situation, and this is why we are counting on the responsibility and solidarity of the athletes.”
They are right that this is an exceptional situation and they are also right in saying no solution will be ideal. However, the current stance of suggesting the
Games will be unaffected is, frankly, laughable, and their refusal to talk about a Plan
B is becoming more and more unfair on athletes.
The prospect of holding the Olympics behind closed doors is unlikely, which leaves three remaining options; cancel the Olympics, postpone the Olympics, or hold them as planned.
With only four months until the Opening Ceremony, it seems impossible to imagine the Games could continue as normal but even if, by some miracle, the coronavirus has about social-distancing.
This is hardly conducive to preparing for an Olympic Games as normal.
As it stands, around 57 per cent of the athletes who will be at the Games have already qualified. That means hundreds upon hundreds of athletes need these last few months before the Games begin to secure their place in their national teams.
I know that when I was on my way to qualifying for London 2012, I needed the last few months of the qualifying period; without it, I wouldn’t have made it into Team
GB. There will be countless athletes in a similar situation this time around.
AND were the Games to go ahead in July, even for those who do make it to Tokyo, it is hard to believe any will be in peak condition considering how drastically training conditions have been affected and how little competition-sharpening most athletes will have had.
The track and field season, which is due to begin in the coming weeks, will certainly be cut short, and may be wiped out altogether as a result of this crisis. How, then, can athletes be expected to turn up in Tokyo and perform well?
As the IOC said, there are no ideal solutions to this unprecedented crisis. Of course, there are more important things going on than sport but nevertheless, sport needs to work out how to cope with the situation.
Calling off an event such as the Olympics should not be done without thorough consideration. But we are now at the stage where a postponement is the only fair way to proceed.
With only four months to go, for the sake of the athletes, postpone the Games, and postpone them now.