Killing The Olympics: Tokyo, The IOC And Teams Around The World Grapple With The Next Move

The world will not get its 2020 Olympic Games.

With the coronavirus spreading rapidly around world, Dick Pound, the longest serving International Olympic Committee member, told USA TODAY this afternoon that the Games will have to be postponed, likely to 2021.

“It just sucks all around no matter how you look at things,” said two-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist in archery Brady Ellison. “The one thing that brings the world together is the Olympics.”

The move to delay is no surprise in the wake of comments from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday, who said it would impossible for the event to be held in its “complete form,” and marks the first time in history the games have been suspended.

The decision is bleak from every perspective, especially that of the athletes, many of whom still haven’t secured a spot to compete while others — like U.S. weightlifter Mattie Rogers who secured a cow tub to simulate the ice baths she took at her shuttered training facility — had scrambled to find alternative ways of training.

“It is a highly emotional time with a lot of uncertainty, so it’s understandable why people across society are trying to gain greater control of their lives and get some level of clarity,” one of Team USA’s multi-discipline sports governing body said in an email statement to Forbes. “It’s necessary to make sure we’ve made the most informed decision on Tokyo 2020 using sound reasoning, data and guidance from medical experts, rather than one based on the emotions we are all feeling right now.” 

Canada was ahead of the curve in calling for a delay, followed by Australia. Brazil, Germany and Norway voiced concerns. The question now is, will the delay be for only one year?

On Friday USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey sent a message to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland requesting she also advocate for postponing the games to next year. Hours later USA Track & Field followed with its own letter to Hirshland but stopped short of requesting when they should be rescheduled. The idea of a two-year delay has also been floated and seems to have some support in Japan. Haruyuki Takahashi, one of the 25 members on the executive board there, told the WSJ earlier this month that a two-year delay would provide a feasible solution because sports schedules for 2021 have largely been decided.

That remains a head scratcher for some, both in terms of funding for the games as well as the problems it causes for countries that compete equally in the summer and winter games, which are scheduled for 2022 in Beijing.

“The further out this is postponed, the further out we have extra costs related to these games, and the further delayed we are in funding for the 2024 Olympics,” said Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Weightlifting.

A top priority should now be deciding on a new qualification process, since only 57% of athlete spots in the 2020 Games have been filled and the IOC set the end of March as the deadline for the rest.

“Our athletes train alone or in very small groups. They can continue right now uninterrupted provided they practice social distancing,” said one U.S. team executive, who advocates keeping the games on but competing in empty stadiums. “The longer the delay in them getting to compete, the higher the risk of injury. For some people they worked all their life to get here. This is their one shot.”

Those priorities will wrestle with the financial realities a delay causes. The games are expected to generate revenue of $5.9 billion, $800 million of that from ticket sales. In fact a year-long delay could reportedly cost Tokyo up to $25 billion in costs per CBS Sports with no way to recoup the lost money as the city waits for a new option. Speaking to the Associated Press in February, Pound said his organization has been building up an “emergency fund” for such circumstances, of about $1 billion, which can be spent on anything from a governing sports body reliant on the IOC or to pay for the IOC’s operations. It’s a headache for NBC, too, which represents 73% of the IOC’s projected revenue, which are part of an almost $8 billion deal with the IOC to air the games through 2032.

“I really hope they just push them back this year,” said archery champion Ellison, who says he is shooting well enough now to win, something that could change with any kind of delay. “People have trained their whole lives or at least the last four years and now they may not get to go, or if it’s postponed some athlete who would be good enough to go now, in two years may be slower.



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