Come anything else, Japan is
starting the one-year delayed Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo this late July, no
more take-backs. The organizing committee finds itself making some very tough
calls to ensure the event goes through without leading to a spike in infections
of the annoying COVID-19 global pandemic. Already they have put a ban on local
Japanese spectators to gather for the ceremony kicking off the Olympic Torch
Relay next week in Fukushima. The toughest call yet is whether or not the
country would allow foreign spectators to the Olympic venues. Past Olympic
organizers are pleading with the Tokyo committee not to hurry deciding.
As Inquirer.net puts it, the Tokyo Olympics organizers are being asked
not to decide too early to ban overseas travellers from spectating at the
Games. This was voiced by Sebastian Coe, an organizer of the 2012 London Summer
Olympics and currently president of World Athletics, the international
governing body of pro and amateur athletics, track and field. Coe issued a
statement this past Thursday, March 18, in response to a proposal by the Tokyo
committee and Japanese government not to allow fans from other countries into
Japan to watch the Olympics mere months from now.
Speaking in a virtual conference
of World Athletics, Coe remarked, “Of course I’d like the stadiums to have
people in.” Stressing that Japan needs to make a balanced decision between
ensuring the safety of athletes, officials, staff and local fans from catching
COVID, and the need to make the Olympics a truly global spectacle where the
world can participate, Coe hoped that their choice will be prudent. “I hope
it’s not made too early because I see no reason why decisions need to be
force-fed when the world is changing,” he adds. “Vaccines are being rolled out
and I think that that is a decision that doesn’t necessarily need to be made at
this moment.”
The Tokyo Olympics Torch Relay
will start at Fukushima this coming March 25, passing first through all major
areas affected by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, before making rounds of
the rest of Japan and ending at National Stadium, Tokyo for the Games’ opening
ceremony. Organizers have stressed their top priority for public safety, asking
Japanese spectators to stay away from the torch relay runners and watch on TV
instead. Some Olympic test events were also moved from April to May, while a
final decision on spectators is expected to be made next month.
Sebastian Coe was organizing
committee chairman of the 2012 London Olympics, hailed as the one of most-attended
Games on record. “Is it better to have people in a stadium when you have live
sport?” He rhetorically asks. “Yes, it is.”
Image from GMA News
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