Tokyo Olympics 2020: Staring at inevitability amid coronavirus pandemic

The four weeks jarred with COC officials because of the advice put forth by their doctors as well as the World Health Organization.
A man walks near a countdown display for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo, Monday, March 23, 2020. (Photo | AP)
A man walks near a countdown display for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo, Monday, March 23, 2020. (Photo | AP)

Assoon as Thomas Bach’s communique landed, Team Canada knew they were going to pull out of the Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) head, in a statement on Sunday, had asked nations to give the world body four more weeks before making a final decision with respect to the Tokyo Games. But the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) were not only willing to give Bach four more weeks, they wanted to pull out their athletes as the body felt the decision would put enormous pressure on athletes to keep training amid a pandemic. 

“Frankly, the decision was taken over the weekend and as soon as Bach’s communique landed, that did not sit right,” Photi Sotiropoulos, Team Canada’s media relations director, told this daily on Monday. “The time frame (four weeks) was too much considering that the world is changing even on a 24-hour basis. It would have meant putting our athletes under more pressure to train everyday.”

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The four weeks jarred with COC officials because of the advice put forth by their doctors as well as the World Health Organization (WHO). “Our health officers and the WHO themselves have been stressing on the need for social distancing to keep the virus at bay, so we didn’t want our athletes to keep training during this time, putting themselves and their loved ones in harm’s way.”

Post the decision, COC have already asked all potential Olympians later this year to ‘stop training and take care of your loved ones’, according to Sotiropoulos. While a few of the other NOCs are actively batting for a push back for a couple of months, Team Canada will only allow their athletes to compete as long it’s moved to next Summer. “Our doctors and various scientists across the world have said that this pandemic will take time to ease off; most of them are of the opinion that this push back of a couple of months will not make that much of a difference. We want the Games to be held next Summer.”

Curiously, Canada’s NOC representative, during a tele-conference with Bach last week, had accepted the latter’s viewpoint of it being too early to decide the fate of the Games. But, after holding a meeting with the athlete representative and doctors, the COC decided the accelerate the process of a withdrawal. “After that call, there was a meeting where the actual process to withdraw accelerated,” Sotiropoulos said. 

Understandably, a few of the athletes were devastated when they came to know the decision but ‘they accepted it because this is bigger than the sport,’ Sotiropoulos pointed out. It also helped that Hayley Wickenheiser, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, addressed the athletes post the decision. She pointed out that if Canadian athletes selflessly sacrifice their ambitions and dreams by staying home, that would send a strong message to millions of Canadians all over the world to remain at home, Sotiropoulos revealed. However, “this is not a boycott,” Sotiropoulos said. “This decision is in the best interests of our athletes, and our people. We are all for the Olympic movement.”

Prepare for 2021, say Aussies

Australian Olympic officials said “it was clear” the Tokyo Games could not go ahead as scheduled this year and told its athletes to instead prepare for the event in 2021. “It’s clear the Games can’t be held in July,” Australian chef de mission Ian Chesterman said. “Our athletes have been magnificent in their positive attitude to training and preparing, but the stress and uncertainty has been challenging for them.”

Delay could be ‘inevitable’: Abe 

After both Canada and Australia revealed their hand, Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, told parliament on Monday that the country was still committed to a ‘complete’ Games, but conceded ‘it may become inevitable that we make a decision to postpone’.

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