HAMLET would have been so at home with the Tokyo Summer Olympics situation. “To be or not to be,” is that the question?
From the looks of it, the Summer Olympics will push through as scheduled on July 23, with the preceding event, the Torch Relay, already well on its way across the various prefectures in Japan. It is in Kyoto on the way to Shiga, as we speak.
Most onlookers would call it a hardheaded move. Over 80 percent in Japan are against pushing through with The Games which had already been postponed by the pandemic outbreak last year. The coronavirus is still giving everyone there the heebie jeebies as Japan contends with a fourth wave of infections.
The numbers show that 43 percent of respondents in an Asahi Shimbun poll want the Games cancelled, while a smaller number (40 percent) want to postpone it some more. Only 14 percent want the Games to go on, foremost of which are the organizers, who have used the slogan “Hope Lights Our Way” for the Torch Relay.
Let’s not forget that Japan lobbied to host the 2020 Summer Olympics after a devastating earthquake, a tsunami and the nuclear disaster of Fukushima in 2011. It wanted to use The Games as a symbol of hope and reconstruction. But alas, nobody saw Covid-19 coming. And even as the world is one with Japan in its efforts to inspire themselves and the rest of us with an undying belief in brightness, the reality of this pandemic is just too much to ignore.
“Take a look at a current coronavirus map of the world. It is still ablaze in reds and bright oranges and not just in ravaged India. Parts of Europe, much of South America—all still awash in the virus. All of those countries are planning to send teams to the Olympics.
“Japan, like many island nations, has done a relatively good job of controlling its borders and the virus. Scroll down the list of countries by cases and deaths and it takes a while before you get to Japan. That’s good. But scroll down the list of countries by vaccination rate and Japan is also near the bottom. That’s bad.
“Japan has a long and complicated history with vaccinations and a low degree of ‘vaccine confidence.’ Back in the early 1990s, a supposed link between the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine and a higher rate of aseptic meningitis led to the government not recommending the shot, which is a basic vaccination in the United States and much of the world. The Japanese government also doesn’t recommend the HPV vaccine, designed to prevent cervical cancer in women.
Combine that vaccine hesitancy with Japan’s conservative approach to regulatory approval of vaccinations, a factor in the country’s slow trajectory to approving and procuring Covid-19 vaccines, and the result is many barriers to getting shots into arms. Which is not good for a nation scheduled to host the first global event of the pandemic,” said former Philippine Sports Commission chairman Aparicio Mequi in a Facebook post.
So why will the Tokyo Summer Olympics still push through? More than national pride and the desire of athletes themselves to compete and put what they’ve trained for out there, the pragmatic reason ‘tis said, is money. The Olympic preparations has already cost Japan an unprecedented $15.4 billion, $3 billion more than planned because of the pandemic.
The International Olympic Committee, which is pushing for the Games, needs to recoup its costs as well. Sustained largely by selling broadcast rights, the IOC will lose even much more than Japan if the Olympics are canceled. The current crisis is such that bidders for future Olympic Games are not as enthusiastic as before. Well, no thanks to the overall uncertainty brought about by the pandemic fallout.
Which is why the IOC has cut out the exciting bidding process and the dramatic announcement of who will host future Games by declaring outright that Paris will host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Los Angeles will be it in 2028. Brisbane, Australia has also been picked to host the 2032 Games.
Olympic organizers led by Seiko Hashimoto say the Olympics has a responsibility “to build a legacy for the future society.” We are sad to lose this special opportunity to welcome so many visitors to Tokyo. But we are looking forward to bringing people together in new ways, as we develop initiatives to share support from around the world and connect with one another virtually.
“The Tokyo Games motto is “United by Emotion.” This is now truer than ever. Together we have faced this crisis. Together we have fought to overcome it. Together the world’s athletes will compete for glory. Together we will watch them strive to deliver the performance of a lifetime. And together, their strength and resilience will inspire us, as this year’s competition showcases the very essence of the Olympics and Paralympics: a celebration of peace, of potential and of humanity.
“Wherever you are this summer, I hope you will join us as we make the Tokyo Games a light of hope: the light near the end of the darkness.”
“Sure, Japan already has spent an enormous amount of money on the Olympics. But if the pandemic should have taught us anything, it is that you can’t place economic priorities ahead of health. That strategy backfires.
The protocols for the Games will be restrictive and much of it will be ‘bubbled.’ But there will not be requirements for athletes and other participants to be vaccinated. How could there be, considering the scarcity of vaccines in many participating countries, including the host?” notes Dr. Mequi.
Paul Newberry of the Associated Press in his column titled “The Olympics Will Go On But In Name Only” says it succinctly:
“Sadly, no matter how the IOC tries to spin it, everyone in the Pandemic Games will be walking on eggshells until the flame is extinguished on August 8. Only then can the celebration really begin. Or, more likely, nothing more than a giant sigh of relief.”