Such. After the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it was the turn of the Japanese organizers to be optimistic about the Tokyo Olympic Games, postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, by ensuring that they will take place despite the evolution of the health crisis that led Japan to extend the state of emergency.
“Regardless of the prevailing situation with the coronavirus, we are going to have games,” said Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister when addressing lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party in power in Japan. “We must stop talking about whether the games will be held or not, but talk about how they will be,” he added.
Mori has been the optimistic voice of the joust in recent weeks in Japan, backed in Switzerland by IOC President Thomas Bach amid press reports that the summer event could be canceled.
The IOC followed up on the versions and reaffirmed that the Games will be inaugurated on July 23 with 11 thousand athletes, more than tens of thousands of judges, journalists, sponsors and special guests. The Paralympic Games will continue on August 24 with 4,400 participating athletes.
Mori’s statements come as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on Tuesday a one-month extension of the state of emergency against the pandemic, decreed in January in various departments of the country (including Tokyo and its periphery) for an initial duration of one month.
“The biggest problem is the perception that the Japanese have of the Olympics,” Mori said. “And the second is how we should continue preparations as we fight the coronavirus. Those two aspects are our main focus ”, he insisted.
A tightening of the conditions of access to Japan for non-residents has already forced the postponement of several sporting events, including an artistic swimming event that was to serve as an Olympic qualification tournament, now postponed to May when its scheduled date was in the first days of March.
The relay of the Olympic flame through Japan is maintained and in principle will begin on March 25.
This Wednesday, the organizing committee will present new details about the measures against the coronavirus. The difficult decision on the number of spectators, with an eventual dispute of the competitions behind closed doors, will be made at the beginning of spring.
Thus, it is not impossible that for the first time in history the Olympic Games (July 23-August 8) followed by the Paralympic Games (August 24-September 5) are played without spectators, or with a very small number.
But for the president of the International Paralympic Committee, the Brazilian Andrew Parsons, “having a Games, even without an audience or only with Japanese spectators, is preferable to not having them.”
“We understand that the Games will not be the same without an audience, but their impact is very strong, and goes beyond the city and the organizing country,” he estimated, considering that the sacrifice is acceptable if the event can inspire wide audiences.
A vast majority of Japanese public opinion is currently opposed to hosting the Games this year, fearing it will exacerbate the pandemic in Japan, according to recent polls.
But the organizers ruled out any further postponement or cancellation and had the support of the International Olympic Committee and athletes from around the world.
Thus, Thomas Bach ended last week with the fears of the annulment of the Games, appealing to “patience and understanding”, and promising a “safe” Olympians despite the pandemic.
A message taken up yesterday by the Japanese minister in charge of the Games, the former speed skater Seiko Hashimoto: “Making the Games a success will be the test of a united world,” he said.
But the local population remains to be reassured. Several Japanese medical associations appealed to the organizers to limit the number of spectators, noting that the health system is being overwhelmed by the current wave of infections.
And all this while Japan has not yet authorized any vaccine, and in principle will not begin to inoculate its citizens before the end of February.
