Will There Be a Tokyo Olympics?
by Steve McGill
When the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed to 2021, the immediate reaction in the track and field world was one of disappointment but acceptance. With the coronavirus pandemic on the rise, forcing us into our houses causing other major sporting events to shut down, it seemed inevitable that the Olympics would not be held as scheduled, and that ended up being the case. The NBA was the first major sports league to shut down operations, when all star center Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the virus, causing the cancellation of the game he was about to play in, and consequently leading to a postponement of the season. Shortly after, the NCAA announced that March Madness was not going to be a thing in 2020, and, from there, the dominos kept falling, as colleges, universities, and secondary schools throughout the United States and all over the world turned to virtual learning and virtual graduation ceremonies. Back then, we assumed that the virus, or at least the worst of it, would be in the rearview mirror by the time the summer of 2021 rolled around. Probably sooner than that. When I had to cancel my hurdle camp in March of 2020, for example, I was assuming that I’d be able to hold it in the fall, and had planned to reschedule it for November. So much for that.
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So here we are in January 2021, and when it comes to the virus, things continue to spiral downward instead of getting better. Infection numbers are rising; new infection records are being set every day on county, city, state, and national levels; death rates are rising; hospitals are reaching maximum capacity; and even with vaccines now currently available, there are all kinds of issues with distribution. So, long story short, the 2021 version of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics appear to be in serious jeopardy, despite the fact that, last summer, we saw some models of how major track meets can be run in a socially-distanced world filled with virus protocols. The Olympics, keep in mind, is much more than just a track meet. There are so many logistics to consider, even under normal conditions, that the prospect of putting together such a colossal event under current conditions seems impractical at best, perhaps deadly at worst.
In the January 15, 2021 edition of the New York Times, columnist Matthew Futterman, in an article entitled “Hopes for Tokyo’s Summer Olympics Darken,” paints a bleak picture of the prospects of the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo organizers being able to pull off a successful Games. Citing the fact that virus cases are rising throughout Japan and in several European countries and in North and South America, Futterman writes that “officials both in Tokyo and with the International Olympic Committee have begun to acknowledge that holding a safe Games might not be possible.” When I connect what is happening now to the 1980 Olympic boycott that I have done a lot of research on while working on the biography I’m writing on Renaldo Nehemiah, I recall many stories I read from that era in which athletes bemoaned the fact that their dreams were being taken away from them, and that all the hard work they had put in for years was going down the toilet bowl. For many of those athletes, the boycott marked the end of their careers. And Nehemiah became so disillusioned that he switched sports altogether a couple years later to play American football. When asked about that decision, he said that it directly had to do with the boycott, because he didn’t want to risk another four years of training for the same thing to possibly happen again.
So, making the connection, dreams are in the process of being shattered again, this time on an even larger scale, since there is the possibility that the Games won’t be held at all. Off the top of my head, I think of Nehemiah’s athlete Justin Gatlin, who was planning on the Tokyo Games being his last Olympics. If the Games are cancelled, he won’t have that chance to put himself on that 100 meter start line one more time on the world’s biggest stage. I think of my former athlete, Keni Harrison, who set the women’s 100mh world record in 2016, two weeks after failing to make the Olympic team. The Tokyo Olympics represent her chance at redemption after such major disappointment. If there are no Games, she’ll have to wait until 2024 to vie for an Olympic medal, and who knows what may happen between now and then? And again, that’s just off the top of my head, pointing out athletes I have a personal connection with. But there are so many stories out there, so many athletes who will be heartbroken if the Games don’t occur. It makes you hope that the officials in charge of the Games can come up with some solution to stage a modified version.
In his article, Futterman points out that several major sporting events have taken place over the past year without any catastrophic fallout, although none of those events were of the magnitude of the Olympics, and some had no fans in the audience. One of the reasons for cautious optimism has to do with the fact that vaccines are now available to control the virus. According to Futterman, IOC President Thomas Bach is counting on vaccines being a savior of the Games, saying that Bach “hailed the quick development of vaccines for providing hope that the Games could be safe.” However, as we all know, and as Futterman points out, “the rollout of the vaccines has been slower than expected … and much of humanity will remain unvaccinated by this summer.” The truth of the matter is, there is very little chance that a significant number of athletes, coaches, officials, etc. will be vaccinated in time for the Games unless distribution somehow miraculously speeds up across the globe. Thinking strictly in terms of the United States, I don’t know what the plans are regarding the Olympic Trials and if holding that meet will be plausible when considering the number of spikes that are occurring across the country. So, there’s that to consider too — will it be safe to hold the meet that is needed to put together a team to send to the Games? It’s a grim situation.
One thing that is certain is that if the Games are not held this summer, they won’t be held at all. They won’t be pushed back to 2022. Bach, according to Futterman, stated as much directly. I personally would like to see a modified Games. I can’t speak for other sports, but for track I would envision having a drastically lower number of competitors, a reduced number of rounds for events that require rounds, much more stringent qualifying standards (just for this year because of the extreme circumstances), a sprinkling of fans (maybe a max of say, 1,000 in the stadium at any given time), mandatory testing on site or at the hotels for those who aren’t vaccinated, proof of vaccination for those who are vaccinated, mandatory masking for athletes whenever they’re not competing, mandatory masks for everyone else at all times, and whatever the heck else has to be done to make it happen.
Source:
Futterman, Matthew. “Hopes for Tokyo’s Summer Olympics Darken.” New York Times, 15 Jan. 2021. Online.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/15/sports/olympics/tokyo-olympics.html#:~:text=Organizers%20postponed%20the%20Olympic%20Games,later%2C%20prospects%20are%20getting%20bleaker.&text=Plans%20for%20the%20postponed%20Tokyo,more%20uncertain%20by%20the%20day.
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