The IOC (International Olympic Committee) is facing a unique, difficult situation with the Summer Games in Tokyo fast approaching and more and more coronavirus cases popping up all over the world.
Just last week Dick Pound (yes, that’s his name) spoke honestly about the situation and risk facing the 2020 Olympics. He is the longest-serving member of the IOC, so his word certainly carries some weight.
“You could certainly go to two months out if you had to,” Pound said according to AP, which would mean putting off a decision until late May and hoping the virus is under control. “A lot of things have to start happening. You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels, the media folks will be in there building their studios.”
And if it got to the point of not going ahead, Pound speculated “you’re probably looking at a cancellation.”
“This is the new war and you have to face it. In and around that time, I’d say folks are going to have to ask: ‘Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo, or not?’”
After Pound’s statement, and the fact that the latest report indicates a death toll of over 3,100, it certainly sounds like it’s a possibility the Olympics could be canceled or postponed, but according to one IOC spokesman that isn’t on the table right now.
Mark Adams was asked if there was any sort of deadline to make a decision surrounding the Olympics and he simply said a decision has already been made and that the games are a go.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams, asked if there is a deadline to make a decision on the Olympics: “We’ve made a decision. The decision is the Games go ahead."
That seems remarkably strident given the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus and what could happen over the next five months.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) March 3, 2020
As Kilgore pointed out in his tweet, that statement does seem rather blatant and overly confident at this point.
The Olympics were last canceled in 1944 when, ironically, Tokyo was supposed to host.