Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori said that the organizing committee "has been preparing for ... various scenarios" for this summer's Tokyo Games due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, including "holding events without spectators." Officials earlier this month said that the Japanese government has "started weighing the possibility of staging the games without spectators on the assumption that Tokyo and the rest of the world may not successfully bring infections under control by July." The officials said that the government is "considering three options -- not imposing a limit on spectators, placing a ceiling of 50% of the venues’ capacity or holding events behind closed doors." Japan is "scheduled to decide by the end of spring the number of fans allowed at each venue and whether to admit fans from overseas." (KYODO, 1/29).
Organizers also are "discussing a large reduction in the number of journalists permitted to attend" the Games. IOC Head of Olympic Games Media Operations Lucia Montanarella this week suggested that journalists "would still be able to attend, albeit with restrictions." The situation "should become clearer on February 4, when a guide with all the regulations and restrictions for the accredited Press will be presented by the IOC" (LONDON TIMES, 1/29).
Meanwhile, for some Canadian athletes heading to the Tokyo Olympics this summer, the thought of receiving a vaccine against COVID-19 before a fellow citizen in greater need "would undermine the meaning of being an Olympian." Canadian wrestler Erica Wiebe said, "We really need the vaccine to get into the arms of the people who are most at risk, those in long-term care homes, those in the front lines." Canadian racewalker Evan Dunfee worries that if athletes were to be given priority, it "would sour public opinion and just turn the community against us" (REUTERS, 1/29).
