Olympic officials are still planning for the Tokyo Games to go on as scheduled despite coronavirus concernsGETTY IMAGES
Longtime IOC member Dick Pound "estimates there's a three-month window to decide the fate" of the upcoming Tokyo Games, which are being "threatened by the fast-spreading" coronavirus, according to Stephen Wade of the AP. Pound "did not sound alarmist," but he did "speak frankly about the risks facing the Olympics, which open July 24." Pound said, "You could certainly go to two months out if you had to." Wade notes if the Tokyo Games got to the point of not going ahead, Pound "speculated 'you're probably looking at a cancellation.'" Pound: "This is the new war and you have to face it. In and around that time, I'd say folks are going to have to ask: 'Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo, or not?" However, Pound said, "All indications are at this stage that it will be business as usual" in Tokyo. Pound: "You just don't postpone something on the size and scale of the Olympics. There's so many moving parts, so many countries and different seasons, and competitive seasons, and television seasons. You can't just say, we'll do it in October." Pound also said that moving to another city "seemed unlikely." Pound: "To move the place is difficult because there are few places in the world that could think of gearing up facilities in that short time to put something on" (AP, 2/25).
MAINTAINING CONFIDENCE: In N.Y., Adam Raymond wrote in public, Japanese officials are "doing everything they can to calm fears." Olympic officials said on Friday after training for Olympic volunteers in Tokyo was postponed, "There are no considerations of canceling the Games, nor will the postponements of these activities have an impact on the overall Games preparation." Raymond noted Japan has "seen the fourth most cases of coronavirus." Meanwhile, there are "emerging questions about how many people will be willing to travel to watch the Olympics." Coronavirus fears have "led to a huge drop in tourism to Asia," and Olympic organizers are "hoping five months is enough time to turn that trend around" (NEW YORK magazine, 2/24).
TAKING NO CHANCES: In Sydney, Eryk Bagshaw notes Australian Sports Minister Richard Colbeck has warned that the country "will not risk the health of its elite athletes as the government becomes increasingly concerned about the threat of the coronavirus" at the Games. Australian Institute of Sport Chief Medical Officer David Hughes said that the "next fortnight will be 'the real test' in bringing the coronavirus under control months out from the start of the Games, as the team begins drawing up contingency plans for training in 'safe' areas." Hughes said that while coronavirus was a "'significant challenge that we would rather not have,' the team was proceeding on the basis the Games would go ahead as planned" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2/25).
