Olympics on despite higher, faster case counts By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 24, 2021

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/06/2021 (1280 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are a lot of people whose concerns about Japan’s decision to proceed with hosting the once-delayed “2020” Tokyo Olympics should have been given serious consideration. First and foremost would be the objections of some 80 per cent of the residents of Japan’s largest city who, owing to the nation’s woeful COVID-19 situation, are opposed to the games going ahead.

Japan, despite ranking among the world’s developed countries, remains something of a laggard in terms of its response to the ongoing global pandemic. Its vaccination rate against COVID-19 is abysmal, with less than five per cent of the total population of 125 million having to date received even a first dose.

Citizens’ concerns about the sudden arrival of 15,000 athletes from 200 countries into a country that’s already struggling mightily to get the coronavirus under control are well founded. As are objections to the games’ cost to Japanese taxpayers, which has ballooned well beyond the original budget of US$7.2 billion to what will likely exceed US$26 billion when all is said and run.

What carries considerably less weight in relation to the Tokyo Olympics, however, are declarations such as the one issued this week by Canadian tennis player Denis Shapovalov, who announced his intention to withdraw from competing in the games. Couched though it was as a decision motivated by safety concerns owing to “the current situation,” presumably meaning Japan’s COVID-19 struggles, one can’t help thinking there are other issues at play.

For Mr. Shapovalov, like other tennis professionals who have opted out of next month’s event, participation in the Olympics amounts to not much more than a diversion in a competitive schedule that offers millions of dollars in compensation for travelling to and playing in countries all around the world on a nearly year-round basis. Many of those countries also have COVID-19 concerns, as well, but the “current situation” in such locales seems easier to endure when professional-level paycheques are involved.

It might be argued — and in some more forthright conversations, has been admitted — that competing in the Olympics, which provide symbolic medals but no significant cash payout for mounting the winners’ podium, represents an undesirable ebb in the otherwise steady financial flow enjoyed by those gifted enough to excel in major professional sports.

As such, other than the opportunity to don a flag-emblazoned uniform and experience a brief interlude of patriotic pride, Mr. Shapovalov and others who hit pause on their professional schedules to enjoy an Olympic moment have very little skin in the game(s).

Too many billions are at stake (delaying the games a year after last year’s initial outbreak reportedly cost organizers US$2.8 billion) for the IOC and Japan’s Olympics-focused leadership to countenance any other outcome.

It’s a different story for the thousands of athletes in disciplines that offer no global showcase and minimal financial-betterment opportunity outside the Olympics — for them, opting out of Tokyo would mean surrendering the chance at a career-pinnacle moment in front a global audience.

The bottom line, however — and competitions staged under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee are forever focused squarely on the very lucrative bottom line — is that Tokyo “2020” was going to take place this year regardless of Japan’s pandemic status at torch-lighting time. Too many billions are at stake (delaying the games a year after last year’s initial outbreak reportedly cost organizers US$2.8 billion) for the IOC and Japan’s Olympics-focused leadership to countenance any other outcome.

COVID-19 infection rates remain higher and faster in Japan, but the lure of Olympic riches has proven stronger than the desire to let science, common sense and public-health concerns prevail in games-related decisions.