The IOC VP in charge of the postponed Tokyo Olympics says the games will open as planned even if the city and other parts of Japan are under a state of emergency because of rising COVID-19 cases.
by @stephenwadeap and @yurikageyama https://t.co/qw3ZKMtvvK
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) May 21, 2021
I sympathize with the athletes hoping to compete, because their performance peaks are so hard-earned and so fleeting. But, pessimist that I am, all the potential scenarios for holding the Olympic competitions safely under the prevailing (pandemic) circumstances seem pretty damned bleak. And the IOC has the opposite of a reputation for holding the safety of its performers, never mind the locals, as a priority…
John Coates, speaking from Australia in a virtual news conference with Tokyo organizers at the end of three days of meetings, said this would be the case even if local medical experts advised against holding the Olympics.
“The advice we have from the WHO (World Health Organization) and all other scientific and medical advice that we have is that — all the measures we have outlined, all of those measures that we are undertaking are satisfactory and will ensure a safe and secure games in terms of health,” Coates said. “And that’s the case whether there is a state of emergency or not.”
Public opinion is Japan has been running at 60-80% against opening the Olympics on July 23, depending on how the question is phrased. Coates suggested public opinion might improve as more Japanese get fully vaccinated. That figure is now about 2%…
IOC officials say they expect more than 80% of the residents of the Olympic Village, located on Tokyo Bay, to be vaccinated and be largely cut off from contact with the public. About 11,000 Olympic and 4,400 Paralympic athletes are expected to attend.
Coates left no doubt that the Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee believes the Tokyo Games will happen. The IOC gets almost 75% of its income from selling broadcast rights, a key driver in pushing on. And Tokyo has officially spent $15.4 billion to organize the Olympics, though a government audit suggests the real number is much higher…
“At present there are not a few people who feel uneasy about the fact the games are going to be held where a lot of people are coming from abroad,” [Organizing committee head Seiko Hashimoto] said. “There are other people who are concerned about the possible burden on the medical system of Japan.”
She said the number of “stakeholders” coming to Japan from abroad had been reduced from 180,000 to about 80,000. She said Olympic “stakeholders” would amount to 59,000, of which 23,000 were Olympic family and international federations. She said an added 17,000 would involve television rights holders, with 6,000 more media.
She also said 230 physicians and 310 nurses would be needed daily, and said about 30 hospitals in Tokyo and outside were contacted about caring for Olympic patients. Organizers have said previously that 10,000 medical workers would be needed for the Olympics…
The IOC’s most senior member, Richard Pound, said in an interview with Japan’s JiJi Press that the final deadline to call off the Olympics was still a month away.
“Before the end of June, you really need to know, yes or no,” JiJi quoted Pound as saying.
Pound repeated — as the IOC has said — that if the games can’t happen now they will be canceled, not postponed again.
IOC President Thomas Bach now plans to arrive in Tokyo only July 12. He was forced to cancel a trip to Japan this month because of rising COVID-19 cases.
This is a “let them eat cake!” moment for the IOC @Olympics #TokyoOlympics #Olympics #COVID19 https://t.co/yBxeOVspsk
— jikon (@jikon) May 22, 2021
… “We have successfully seen five sports hold test events during a state of emergency,” John Coates, a vice president of the International Olympic Committee, said during a news conference at the end of a three-day virtual meeting to address preparations. “All of the plans to protect safety and security of athletes are based around worst possible circumstances. So the answer is absolutely yes.”…
…[I]f popular opinion doesn’t improve, he said: “Then our position is, we just have to make sure that we get on with our job. And our job is to ensure these games are safe for all of the participants and all the people who might come into contact with the participants.”
Coates said he expected that 80% of athletes who arrived for the games would be vaccinated, and he noted that some countries — including his native Australia — are moving to vaccinate journalists and others headed to the games.
Japan is behind many wealthy countries in administering coronavirus vaccines to its citizens — only 4.1% of the populations has received doses — and at the moment only health workers and older people are eligible…
Nearly 70% of Japanese firms want the Tokyo Olympics either canceled or postponed, a Reuters survey found, underscoring concerns that the Games will increase coronavirus infections at a time when the medical system is under heavy strain https://t.co/J5jwlUv8Jh pic.twitter.com/u3F23f6yZD
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2021
Groups angry as IOC tells athletes ‘go to Tokyo at your own risk’https://t.co/RFW9MnaE6K pic.twitter.com/n33IAAMEJP
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) May 22, 2021
Veteran Australian epidemiologist Mike Toole has no misgivings when it comes to speculating on worst-case Covid-19 scenarios for the Tokyo Olympics.
One storyline tracks an athlete from a poor country that lacks vaccine supplies. They arrive in Tokyo, complete their events and return home – taking the coronavirus with them and spreading it in communities devoid of proper health care.
Another involves a player in a team sport such as football or hockey who tests negative on landing in Tokyo. Several days later, when they reach the semi-finals, he or she tests positive after the virus completes its incubation period and the whole team is quarantined. Do they cancel the semi-final?
Then there are the enthusiastic, party-loving young athletes whose future badge of honour would be to boast about how they once escaped the Olympics’ safety bubble to enjoy the bright lights of Tokyo … where they would promptly become infected. For many, even in some of the richer countries, vaccines are not yet an option.
All these scenarios are potentially real, even within the confines of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) vaunted Playbook – the athletes’ blueprint for Covid-19 safety now in its second version with a third and final update expected in June as new medical knowledge comes to light.
Crucially, all athletes will be left to fend for themselves if their nightmares come true. In the Playbook’s “introduction” section, a legal waiver is included that absolves the IOC, Japanese government and Tokyo Games organisers of any responsibility should an athlete, coach, official or journalist become infected with Covid-19 during their stay in Tokyo…
The IOC, however, cannot afford to cancel with the body earning 75 per cent of its income from selling Olympics broadcast rights. The IOC said it earned US$5.7 billion through broadcast and marketing rights from 2013 to 2016 covering the Sochi Winter Games and Rio Olympics. Much of that is distributed to the national associations and affiliates.
The Japanese government will see US$26 billion go down the drain if the Olympics are cancelled, with the cost of staging the Games tripling since Tokyo won hosting rights eight years ago. A sizeable portion of those costs are going into making sure the Games are safe. But the situation in Japan is becoming even more dire after the government on Friday added another prefecture, Okinawa, to the nine – including Tokyo – under emergency measures…
IOC President Bach to visit Japan from July 12 ahead of Tokyo 2020 Games -TV Asahi https://t.co/CsrxV7M5ep pic.twitter.com/dJRRraw4mq
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 20, 2021
… As support wavers, organisers have sought to reassure the public that the Games can be held safely with coronavirus prevention measures in place.
Organisers are now making arrangements to halve the number of people coming to Japan as part of foreign Olympic delegations, broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday.
Some 94,000 people are expected to make their way to Japan for the games, down from an initial estimate of 200,000 people, NHK said citing unnamed government sources.
Foreign spectators will also be barred from watching the games in Japan. However, organisers have not confirmed whether they plan to allow domestic spectators into the venues, saying that a decision will be made in June.
More links here:
Tokyo Olympics: Covid-19 serious cases reach a new high but IOC, Suga, and Koike in denial https://t.co/auS8hexdAG pic.twitter.com/vc10TH056m
— Modern Tokyo Times (@MTT_News) May 22, 2021
Walking along anti-#Olympics protest last night in Tokyo. Latest poll shows >80% in Japan oppose the Olympics this year.
Some protesters tell me they lost their jobs during pandemic. Are frustrated billions are being poured towards the Games.
IOC says #Olympics will go on @CNN pic.twitter.com/PLkEWzTpHD— Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) May 18, 2021
germy
(Who could have predicted?)
Omnes Omnibus
Well, someone has to make FIFA look good.
dmsilev
It’s nuts. And cements the IOC’s position of “worst sports organization”. Given that the competition includes groups like FIFA, that’s impressive.
SiubhanDuinne
This is simply appalling. The IOC is justthisclose to being a criminal organisation for putting so many athletes and others at risk, but of course it would be a real tragedy if they were to miss out on one penny of that sweet, sweet money.
Another Scott
If one guy wasn’t able to go, it makes sense that 80,000 outsiders won’t be allowed to go soon either, doesn’t it?
I expect the games to officially be canceled next month when they make the final decision.
I assume Japan will be top of the list whenever the next games are decided.
The Olympics management really needs to be reformed. Maybe this will be taken as an opportunity to do so.
Cheers,
Scott.
Catherine D.
@germy: The system has been updated. It didn’t recognize my vaccination yesterday, but today it did. I now have a one year Excelsior pass (from date of second shot.)
germy
@Catherine D.:
I’m glad they fixed the problem.
Ken
For a fellow who thinks there won’t be any pandemic problems, IOC VP Coates sure seems to spend a lot of time holding virtual news conferences from the quarantined continent of Australia.
Baud
Are the athletes and officials required to be vaccinated? Last I heard, none of the events would have spectators. Is that still true?
Baud
@Baud:
Ok just saw this in the story.
Seems silly that it’s not required.
Emma from Miami
I stopped watching the Olympics a while ago when I realized the truth about the organization. It broke my heart, as watching the Summer track and field events was something my dad and I did together for years. He’s stopped watching too, and since “beisbol” is mostly behind cable paywalls AND Covid it’s very frustrating for him to find a sports event he can watch.
Catherine D.
@germy: I did call the pharmacy when the problem first occurred to make sure my name and DOB were correct.
rikyrah
If they are not going to vaccinate their country…
No way should they be having the Olympics ??
Duskfire
It really sucks that the IOC is so corrupt, but it’s the reality. In a better world, the Olympics would have a hard reboot with a new org running it, and choose from 16 or 24 cities around the world who would have semi-permanent sports facilities, on a rotating basis. That alone would mitigate (to an extent) the pressure put on cities to spend/waste money on brand-new facilities that get forgotten about 4 to 8 years later.
Parfigliano
Japan should have noticed that hosting the Olympics is a sucker bet.
RaflW
Say what one might about Chris Hayes as a teevee host, but I read his book Twilight of the Elites almost a decade ago, and his analysis of widespread institutional failures being a hallmark of this era just keeps holding up.
IOC is definitely no exception. My partner and I went to Rio de Janeiro late in 2015, and were fascinated-horrified reading about the pollution where the Olympic sailing qualifiers were being held. Just one tiny example of how they don’t really value the athletes.
(We are so glad we went to Brazil when we did. No way I’d go to Glem’s special hideaway, with all the COVID and Bolsonarian corruption now.)
rikyrah
There should be nobody in the stands.
Allow VACCINATED athletes and their VACCINATED coaches only
rikyrah
As for Simone Biles ???
#TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) tweeted at 10:19 AM on Fri, May 21, 2021:
Simone Biles just landed her Yurchenko double pike in podium training and we are SPEECHLESS. ? #USClassic
@Simone_Biles @OnHerTurf https://t.co/S9YsasXoXu
(https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/1395761277943832586?s=03)
rikyrah
@Ken:
Ain’t that a bytch???
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
It would be nice if this helps drive a stake through the Olympics. It’s a racket.
Catherine D.
@rikyrah: Oh, I hope she doesn’t hurt herself, but it is an amazing vault.
The Moar You Know
The Olympics will proceed, there will be crowds, audience and athletes will get COVID and die. And the IOC does not even consider this a “cost of doing business”; since they’re not paying, it’s not a cost to them.
Old drummers ex-girlfriend was part of the IOC, some sort of management capacity. That organization is corrupt beyond imagination.
JMG
Olympic athletes living in the Village are as effectively segregated from the rest of their host country it’s as if they aren’t there at all. As for banning spectators, that can be done for some events, but not all. The marathons and distance bike races, for instance.
marklar
I’m not quite sold on headline of the “IOC vows to shoot the hostages”. Some of us remember the Munich Olympics.
MattF
OT. A thank-you note from those folks who told you they were going to make you rich.
Geminid
@Emma from Miami: While it is a different experience than watching, baseball is a very good sport to listen to on radio. In some ways, it’s even better. TV broadcasters try to fill up the empty space by playing tape and flashing charts of statistics, Radio announcers tend to go with the slow pace, and that’s kind of calming. And it is free.
Feathers
I’ve loved the Olympics since I was a kid. My sister has been going to the Games as a tourist since Atlanta and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Note: they hadn’t been planning to go to Tokyo, even before COVID. They went to Pyeongchang and spent time in Tokyo while they were in Asia.
But the IOC needs to be burned to the ground. Like the police unions of the previous thread, we need to have a reckoning with the corrupt organizations that are hindering global progress.
Emma from Miami
@Geminid: My dad is now 87 and his command of English has deteriorated. Radio wouldn’t work for him. Depending of what it is, even tv is iffy. Baseball he knows visually; he can even predict what will happen when he’s watching the field.
mrmoshpotato
Wow.
trollhattan
@Feathers:
Yeah, I can’t not watch. Last winter games I found myself up at two in the morning watching curling. Curling.
Summer games I have to watch track and field and the women’s soccer tournament (the kiddo’s two sports), swimming, gymnastics, cycling, the list goes on. Given Tokyo’s wacky time zone I probably won’t be seeing much live but the cable has the Olympics channel and various NBC channels and I expect the opportunity will be there.
US team and staff will all be vaccinated but who can guess about the many other nations. It’s not as though the IOC has come forth and said “here, vaccines for your entire team.” Suppose that would be politically fraught when the rest of the nation did not have vaccinations to give them to literally their healthiest people.
J R in WV
I loved the Olympics, and then came the Munich Games, where a harried Sportscaster got to cover the worst terrorist attack in history, and did a stellar job of it. Later on he got to cover an earthquake during a World Series (I think, not a baseball fan) in California, as bridges pancaked.
Then we learned that many Olympic teams were juiced on something, with international scams to cover up the juicing. Then we learned that the IOC was a major scam, didn’t care a
dammed bit about the health of the athletes, was in it just for the money…
Imagine that~!!~ Just like TFG, just in it for the money. Pretty sad, the competitors are so dedicated, work so hard, are so successful for the most part, and the leaders of the organization that shows off their work are greedy criminals… imagine that~!!~
mrmoshpotato
@Emma from Miami: Do any Spanish-language radio stations carry the games?
Kent
The can’t require it if they aren’t willing to provide vaccine themselves. Many athletes come from countries where they aren’t yet eligible to get vaccinated. And giving them their shots when they arrive in Tokyo would be too late.
There are no fleets of mobile IOC vaccine clinics flying around the world giving special treatment to athletes.
How do you vaccinate say….the Senegalese soccer team right now? And if you are the public heath minister in Senegal, is vaccinating a bunch of super fit young athletes your top priority with whatever limited amounts of vaccine you have acquired? Or maybe do you do your health workers instead?
Geminid
@Emma from Miami: That is a tough situation. Radio Mambi (WAQI AM710) has Spanish language Marlins games. But it sounds like your dad needs the visual aid.
Barbara
I have to say that I don’t really sympathize with the athletes anymore. I have finally had it. You can watch the world championships and other significant competitions for individual sports, and for the life of me, I don’t see how Olympic games are different or more special, at least from a spectator’s viewpoint. And the jingoism has only gotten more and more disgusting.
Athletes competing in three or even four successive games has more or less shown that the Olympics has become — for many sports — just another stop on the professional circuit.
Unique uid
@Emma from Miami: Does he have ok broadband at his location? I was just looking at MLB streaming, seems like Hulu might cover it for $6/month??
Emma from Miami
@Geminid: Yeah. It’s tough for him because the visuals have become essential. Besides, and I quote “I would have to listen to their goddamn political ads.” Do you know what happens when a former EXTREMELY conservative guy that voted twice for Obama and once for Biden gets the straight-from-the-lie-factory ads? Blood pressure zooms. And he can’t afford it.
Emma from Miami
@Unique uid: I might look into that. Thanks!
JaneE
It is too late now, but Japan should have announced 3 or 4 months ago that anyone entering the country must either show proof of vaccination, or be vaccinated on entry and quarantine until full immunity is developed, 6 weeks if necessary. There should be some countries willing to vaccinate the athletes of nations who don’t have access in order to see them participate, if only for the good PR.
Japan used to be good at planning and execution, but apparently not for everything.
Geminid
@Emma from Miami: At least in Virginia, the baseball games do not have political ads…thank God! And the radio announcers tend to be very engaging. But it sounds like you have a good line on a way for your dad to watch baseball. Good luck!
BruceFromOhio
How headlines should be written.
Villago Delenda Est
The IOC is very grateful that FIFA is around to make the IOC look good in comparison.