The spread of COVID-19 led the global sports scene to grind to a halt. Prominent sports leagues like the NBA and NCAA have suspended or cancelled their upcoming sports events. What was looking to be the last event left untouched by the pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, was officially postponed until 2021.
“The [International Olympic Committee (IOC)] president [Thomas Bach] and the Prime Minister of Japan [Shinzo Abe] have concluded that the games … 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,” said a joint statement made by the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee.
No: the Olympics should remain postponed – Colin Johnson
The Olympic Games present an opportunity for athletes who compete in sports that are rarely aired on television to have their dedication recognized by the public. The games are the culmination of years of hard work, early mornings, late nights and sacrifices. To take that away would leave athletes wondering: “What was the purpose of all that?”
“On one hand I’m ready for the games this summer because we’ve all been building up to this for so many years,” said United States swimming national team member and Olympic gold medalist Cody Miller in one of his recent vlogs. “I don’t want that to be taken away. … I don’t want to go another year where I’m sacrificing everything in my life to revolve around this one objective.”
There are other competitions, like world championships, where top athletes compete, but the environment around the Olympics is different. According to the National Broadcasting Company, an average of 27.5 million viewers tuned in to the Rio Olympics in the United States alone, making it one of the most watched sporting events ever.
“An average of 27.5 million viewers tuned in to the Rio Olympics in the United States alone, making it one of the most watched sporting events ever”
The games are also a major source of income, but hosting the Olympics comes at a cost. According to the Chief Executive Officer of Tokyo 2020, Toshiro Mutoh, the budget for hosting the Olympics is around $12 billion. With all of the venues already complete, cancelling the Olympic Games would force Japan to face an immense financial deficit. The best course of action at this point would be to invest the added $5.7 billion needed to delay the games, with the hope of having a large enough profit margin to make up the costs.
Sponsors are another economic concern for cancelling the Olympics for both the hosts and athletes. According to the IOC, sponsors like Coca-Cola, Visa, Samsung and many more have budgeted a record $4 billion on advertising, three times more than any other summer games.
In addition, as athletes struggle to find places to train, they also face a tough situation with sponsors. Without the games, many athletes will lose funding from companies like Nike and Adidas. Many elite athletes rely on sponsorship deals to pay their bills, buy food and pay for other expenses. The lack of an Olympics this year could prevent athletes from keeping the attention of big businesses in order to make or maintain sponsorships. Not only that, but waiting four more years could push athletes out of their prime competition age, making their hopes of an Olympic medal disappear.
“The lack of an Olympics this year could prevent athletes from keeping the attention of big businesses in order to make or maintain sponsorships”
Lastly, dubbed the “Reconstruction Games,” the 2020 Olympics are supposed to be a symbol of a recovered Japan after the devastating 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. As it passes through Japan, the Olympic Torch will have special ceremonies in the Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures called the “Flame of Recovery.” These demonstrations were supposed to give people in the affected areas a chance to see the flame and reflect on their hard work reconstructing the local communities. Without the games, Japan will lose the chance to prove to the world that they have fully recovered from the 2011 disaster.
Athletes are relying on the Olympics to prove that their hard work has paid off to fans, sponsors and most of all themselves. Cancelling it would ruin that opportunity. In these unprecedented times, it is important that companies and people all take the necessary precautions to stay safe and protect those around them.
Yes: the Olympics should be cancelled – Brooke Tran
The 2020 Summer Olympics were scheduled to be held this year in Tokyo, Japan from July 24 to Aug. 9. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the new date for the event to be held is the summer of 2021. However, it’s unclear to predict when this pandemic will be over, making it unreasonable to declare a set time to hold the event.
Several other sports associations have changed their schedules due to the coronavirus, such as the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association and smaller leagues for minors throughout the country. Over 20 different sports worldwide have been affected by COVID-19, not including the Olympics, leading most to postpone their seasons. Some, however, have been entirely cancelled, like the Golf Players Championship and the Artistic Gymnastics All-Around World Cup, which were also supposed to be held in Tokyo.
With this many countries altering their sports to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, it’s a wonder why the 2020 Olympics are still scheduled to continue, even next year. Also, the original venues where the events were planned to be held must be kept a year longer, marking a big toll on the organization financially.
Other countries are definitely bound to withdraw to keep their players safe, with COVID-19 cases growing worldwide. Also, despite risking the health of players participating, there are several more people that could get infected including coaches, referees, umpires and fans. Even if a single fan unknowingly has the virus, it only takes one person to infect countless others. Multiple people from around the world are bound to carry it even into next year if a cure is not found, which would put everyone else at risk.
“Even if a single fan unknowingly has the virus, it only takes one person to infect countless others”
Besides that, countries are also forcing businesses and schools to take precautions. If people are being forced to avoid going out to eat, then they certainly would not want to fly abroad to gather with hundreds of thousands of other people, where they have an even higher chance of getting infected. In the previous Olympics in Rio, about 10,500 athletes competed and around 500,000 foreign travelers flew to watch. The number adds up to over half a million people, not including the security staff members, hosts and coaches attending.
Even in the beginning, when the Olympics were still scheduled to run in 2020, the organization hadn’t ignored the growing number of cases and deaths around the world (it would be hard to ignore, anyway). They posted several letters and updates about COVID-19 on the Olympics official website, stating advice to prevent the spread of the disease, and a document about the impact of the disease.
“At the same time, the world is facing challenges that are also impacting sport,” the International Olympic Committee said in the document on March 12. “But with 19 weeks before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the many measures being taken now by authorities all around the world give us confidence and keep us fully committed to delivering Olympic Games that can bring the world together in peace.”
This pandemic is a whole new situation since the flu. As of April 15 there has been 133,354 deaths. We lack knowledge on this virus, so predicting when exactly it will die down is still a mystery. Even if it dies down before the summer of 2021, what’s the point of calling it the “2020 Summer Olympics” if it bleeds into next year?
It’s evident that the organization is hesitant to cancel the event in favor of tradition and entertainment for fans, but we need to place a bigger value on human health than entertainment. Instead of worrying about the games, worldwide tradition or not, it’s best to focus on obtaining control over this virus.
“Instead of worrying about the games, worldwide tradition or not, it’s best to focus on obtaining control over this virus”
In the time range between March 12 and March 22, the number of cases and deaths jumped tremendously. On March 12, there were almost 135,000 total cases and less than 5,000 deaths. Ten days later, tests revealed that the amount of cases more than doubled, reaching almost 337,500 cases in total, and the deaths more than tripled, reaching over 16,500 deaths worldwide. On April 2, cases tipped over the one-million scale, an exponential growth that should not be taken lightly.
With all these things to consider, it’s astonishing as to why Japan is still scrambling to organize this event when COVID-19 is still spiralling out of control. We should value our health over our entertainment and refrain from spreading this virus even more, which is why the Olympics must be cancelled.
