The vast majority of the sports world is on hold as the coronavirus pandemic continues to pervade countless countries, but there are 33 sporting events that may resume too rashly this summer.
The 2020 Summer Olympics, set in Tokyo and currently scheduled to take place between July 24 and Aug. 9, need to be postponed.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach maintained that the games will go on as planned in a statement Sunday.
“The IOC [Executive Board] emphasized that a cancellation of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 would not solve any of the problems or help anybody,” according to the statement. “Therefore, cancellation is not on the agenda.”
The IOC needs to follow in the footsteps of other major sports leagues like the NBA and MLB. Postpone it now, and deal with the logistics later.
While the supposed start of the Olympics is still about four months away, the spread of COVID-19 is worrisome enough to end the conversation as to whether or not the games continue.
On Friday, the number of confirmed cases globally was more than 230,000 according to the World Health Organization.
As of Monday, there are more than 330,000 confirmed cases according to WHO.
The number grew by about 100,000 and yet, Bach still wants to risk the health of all these athletes.
The Olympics unite the world for a brief period through the love of sports. However, in these times, people should be apart from each other – specifically six feet apart.
By still holding the Olympics to its original schedule, Bach is saying that a global pandemic is of secondary priority to the Olympic games and should take a backseat.
However, if the IOC has to decide between holding the Olympics and protecting everyone’s health, the coronavirus will always win.
The global participation of the games is the main reason why they need to be postponed.
According to the Olympics website, 206 National Olympic Committees, composed of countries and territories, are eligible to participate in the games.
According to Johns Hopkins University, 168 countries and regions in the world have at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 as of Monday.
This sounds like a really bad time to bring the world together.
Thousands of athletes are slated to compete in the games, but they are not the only ones that are affected.
These athletes will tirelessly train with the assistance of various coaches and mentors, travel to Tokyo by plane and fraternize with hundreds of people there.
No doubt, they’ll be hemming and hawing the whole time with the media hoards and fans in attendance.
It is no secret that the coronavirus can be transmitted through things as simple as a cough or a handshake, which make it seem obvious to not hold a worldwide gathering of athletes.
Organizations, such as USA Swimming, have formally requested that the games be delayed by one year.
“There are no perfect answers, and this will not be easy; however, it is a solution that provides a concrete path forward and allows all athletes to prepare for a safe and successful Olympic Games in 2021,” USA Swimming said in a statement Friday.
In the IOC statement, Bach said that they are “confident that it will have finalized these discussions within the next four weeks.”
Four weeks is an eternity to keep these athletes in the dark and an unfair amount of time to tinker with their fate.
IOC member Dick Pound said that the games would be postponed, according to a Monday USA Today article. The IOC, however, has not released an official statement stating that they would
be delayed.
Bobsled and hurdles Olympian Lolo Jones shared her disdain for the IOC’s board on Twitter.
“They just don’t get it! The leadership in IOC should be ashamed!” Jones stated in the tweet. “Struggle to train for 4 more weeks where athletes will prolly find out it is postponed for a
year anyways.”
Lives are at stake. As the IOC continues to teeter-totter in its decision-making process, it is are staining the Olympics, not uniting them.
