It’s too late to turn back now.
The 29th edition of the Summer Olympic Games gets underway in Tokyo, Japan from Friday and the early indications are that the Coronavirus pandemic will make its mark.
On Saturday there was news of a positive COVID-19 test in the Athletes’ Village and yesterday there were more positive tests with two South African footballers in the Olympic Village testing positive.
Despite the many measures implemented by the Tokyo Games Organizing Committee such as not to allow spectators in some 25 Tokyo venues, social distancing, mask wearing and bubble type accommodation, the virus just will not go away.
Which is why the majority of the Japanese population are against the Games being held at this time.
Approximately 80 per cent of the Japanese population feels that the games should be cancelled altogether or, at best, postponed.
But there is too much at stake.
Too much financial losses to be incurred by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the host country not to mention the athletes.
According to some reports Japan has spent approximately $15.4bn on the Olympics with all but $6.7bn coming from the Japanese taxpayers.
Sponsors have invested some $3.3bn, a record, according to reports while the IOC it is estimated, would have lost approximately $4bn in revenue from advertisement if the games were not held.
For some athletes, the Olympic Games represent the pinnacle of sporting achievement and the defining moment of their careers.
There is also a fair bit of nationalism to their efforts often reflected in the pride felt by their countrymen back home.
For others such as tennis player Novak Djokovic, it’s is the opportunity to create history for himself and country.
Djokovic, from the Republic of Serbia, is chasing after the Golden Slam. Should he win the Olympic men’s singles title and later the US Open title, he will become the first man to win all the major titles in one calendar year since he has already won the Australian and French Open titles and Wimbledon.
Olympic gold is easily translated to gold of the cash variety in the form of lucrative endorsement deals, once the games are over which is why over 11000 athletes from over 200 countries are rushing in where many fear to tread.
Tokyo 2020, held in 2021, promises to be an Olympic Games like no other and the overriding theme should the games be held successfully, will be the triumph of sport over the greatest modern day adversity known to mankind.
A successful games will be a win against COVID-19, the virus which has literally brought the world to its knees, infecting over 190 million people the world over and killing a little over four million persons.
The games, though, are going ahead even as the Japanese government, tried to halt the surging cases by instituting a new State of Emergency in Tokyo, it’s fourth, as it tries to curb new highly contagious variants such as the Delta variant.
Tokyo has just reached a six-month high for new daily COVID-19 cases which numbers more than 1000 cases a day and only 20 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.
Which has raised fears that the Olympics could become a super spreader of the virus.
Medical experts say the IOC has ignored their suggestions on how to make the games safer arguing that the IOC seems to be putting profits before safety.
An estimated 3.6 billion people watched the Rio Olympic Games and despite the pandemic, this Olympic Games could well become the most watched as well as the most profitable, at least for the television companies.
This year’s Olympic Games is a marathon not a sprint and the test will be to see the games to its conclusion on August 5.
This year, the highly lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) was forced to be postponed after rising daily infections in the bubble like atmosphere.
To avoid infection, the athletes in Tokyo are required to adhere to social distancing and the wearing of masks at all times except when training, competing, eating, drinking or giving interviews.
Athletes and others will have to download apps on their mobile phones and the athletes will be subjected to contact tracing and every day testing.
The athletes will also be asked to dine alone.
However, isolation of athletes who might have been exposed to the virus is certainly a recipe for the postponement of the games should there be a rise in COVID-19 cases.
In the final analysis, while a successful games will do much to show that the fight against the pandemic can be won, the protection of the lives of the participants is paramount and safety is and should always be, the number one priority.
