The Olympics. Whether you are an avid sports fan or only stay for the snacks, there is no denying that the Olympics — both summer and winter — are a truly treasured international pastime every four years. Young athletes gaze at their TV screens in awe as they discover a new dream and we all cheer on our favorite athletes, teams, and in some cases, countries, when the competition is underway.
I understand the symbol of unity the Olympics holds far outweighs the struggles of the past and present. I get that we could all benefit from that symbol right now. It would mean that we banded together as not only a country, but throughout the world to face this virus. However, our work to fight this virus and keep everyone safe is not done yet.
Just like everything else this past year, it needs to be acknowledged that we might just have to skip it. The upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, taking place this summer after being postponed from last year, is expected to continue as planned with strict COVID-19 protocols for athletes, but as the recent quarantine experience for the Australian Open has proved, this may be a lot more difficult than what was once thought.
Bottom line: going through with the games this summer is a risk that no one should be willing to make.
Take the Australian Open debacle. Athletes are voicing concerns that the 14-day quarantine leading into the competition will detriment their performance as they need high-intensity conditioning in addition to their allotted daily five hours of practice.
As of Jan. 18, the state government of Victoria, where the athletes are quarantining in Australia, reported four new COVID-19 cases, with three of the cases related to the Open. There were seven individuals who tested positive who were linked to the competition, and with more tennis players arriving by plane leading up to their matches, the cases in Australia could rise due to these international visitors.
However, Australia is in a somewhat privileged position as their government was able to call for successful lockdowns and COVID-19 procedures to keep case numbers down. Yet, the same can’t be said for Japan. With a total number of 86,742 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tokyo, a state of emergency has been put into place until Feb.7, and since Jan. 13, the country has banned foreign nationals from entry. Although the Olympic games are set for this summer from July 23 to Aug. 8, with the Paralympic Games to follow from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5, it’s not a good sign that the city is suffering shortages of hospital beds due to the virus.
Even though Japan plans to test athletes at least once every four days and conduct thorough contract tracing — similar to what we are seeing out of Australia — there is an aspect we are failing to consider. All of the workers, media teams, officials and non-athlete participants will be needed at the games. We are talking about 11,000+ athletes competing in a competition that will require security, medical personnel, coaches and staff, team representatives, janitorial and maintenance staff and housing staff as well. I’m probably missing a whole host of categories that maintain and control the logistics of holding an Olympic-level sports competition, but you get the point.
It’s going to be nearly impossible for any country to accept an influx of that many individuals without some of those individuals spreading or contracting COVID-19 and it potentially seeping out into the overall population of citizens, let alone Japan who is facing challenges with spikes in case numbers currently.
I understand that the world has had a tough year managing the coronavirus in their respective countries and keeping citizens safe. I would like nothing better than to watch the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on the couch with my family this summer, discussing our favorite sports, sharing snacks and cheering at the TV when my favorite athlete gets the gold. Heck, maybe even plan a trip to Japan in the near future to explore all the beautiful locales I see on my screen, but, unfortunately, this will most likely not be the reality. For the safety of the athletes, the citizens, and in a way, all the citizens of the world, I think it’s better we just wait until all nations can safely compete and we can celebrate all nations’ accomplishments properly.
