Olympics to be held without spectators in Tokyo due to pandemic

[gsk8]

The Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators at venues in the Japanese capital due to a spike in coronavirus infections, Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa said Thursday after organizers made the unprecedented decision just two weeks ahead of the opening of the global sporting event.

The announcement, abandoning their earlier plan to stage the Olympics in front of a limited number of fans, came after the Japanese government decided to put Tokyo under another state of emergency until Aug. 22, amid rising concern the games could trigger a further surge in infections.

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[yume]

If they knew the future, they would have already held it in 2020 without spectactors.
A pity that it got delayed to be finally held without public.

 

[Amei]

If they knew the future, they would have already held it in 2020 without spectactors.
A pity that it got delayed to be finally held without public.

There are still a few weeks to go so...
My understanding of it is that the sentiment among the Japanese public and health officials are that they don't want the Olympics to happen and would rather they be cancelled. Neither the IOC or the Japanese government probably want to take that financial hit, and the IOC is getting hit with a double whammy of PR nightmare between this game and the upcoming Beijing Games. If any groups are wanting to get rid of the Olympics altogether now is certainly the time to push for it.

 

[Jammers]

Why not just cancel the whole thing? At this point it's not even going to feel like the Olympics with no spectators at all. Is Japan not very far along with their vaccinations?

 

[Amei]

Why not just cancel the whole thing? At this point it's not even going to feel like the Olympics with no spectators at all. Is Japan not very far along with their vaccinations?

Did a Google search they are at 20 million vaccinated or 16% of the population

https://www.google.com/search?ie=UT...urce=android-browser&q=japan+vaccination+rate

 

[Jammers]

Did a Google search they are at 20 million vaccinated or 16% of the population

https://www.google.com/search?ie=UT...urce=android-browser&q=japan+vaccination+rate

Only 16%? I would think they would be further along in Japan then here in the US with all of the problems with people even believing there is a virus.

 

[Amei]

After seeing Dreams on Ice clips where they had an audience the last few days, I'm wondering how the IOC really feels about Japan saying no to audiences at all. Seems a little hypocritical to not let in even local citizens for the Olympics a global event but some ice show gets to have audiences?

 

[sailormoon]

The ice show was held in Yokohama in Kanagawa prefecture before the state of emergency was declared in Tokyo. I envy these spectators who were physically there but it is too risky to travel to Tokyo nowadays. From now on, all sporting events in Tokyo cannot have an audience until the end of August. In line with this, Olympic organizers decided that the Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators at venues in Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures including Kanagawa because Tokyo is reporting close to 1,000 new cases everyday. Even the emperor voiced concerns about the Olympics and Covid-19. The vaccination rate in Japan is currently 24%, while it is 70% among the elderly, who got vaccinated ahead of the general public.

 

[Nachi]

After seeing Dreams on Ice clips where they had an audience the last few days, I'm wondering how the IOC really feels about Japan saying no to audiences at all. Seems a little hypocritical to not let in even local citizens for the Olympics a global event but some ice show gets to have audiences?

I think the problem is that it's just way too slow. People want to get vaccinated but don't receive an appointment. It was slow at where I live until recently as well. We just didn't get the amount of vaccines as expected.

 

[moonvine]

My understanding of it is that the sentiment among the Japanese public and health officials are that they don't want the Olympics to happen and would rather they be cancelled. Neither the IOC or the Japanese government probably want to take that financial hit, and the IOC is getting hit with a double whammy of PR nightmare between this game and the upcoming Beijing Games. If any groups are wanting to get rid of the Olympics altogether now is certainly the time to push for it.

They built whatever infrastructure they needed to have the Olympics. The Olympics always lose money but they’re going to lose tons more money without even any ticket sales. I feel horrible for the athletes who won’t even have their friends and family there.

 

[Azikin]

Honestly, the whole thing feels quite ridiculous without spectators.. and now that thing with the positive case in the village. Well hopefully winter Olympics will be different. FS absolutely needs spectators..

 

[moonvine]

Honestly, the whole thing feels quite ridiculous without spectators.. and now that thing with the positive case in the village. Well hopefully winter Olympics will be different. FS absolutely needs spectators..

I agree 1000%. The Olympics isn’t just a sporting event. It’s a huge block party and a way to unite the world through sport.

I’ve come to the conclusion that all sports need spectators. Not everyone agrees with me.

 

[Azikin]

I agree 1000%. The Olympics isn’t just a sporting event. It’s a huge block party and a way to unite the world through sport.

I’ve come to the conclusion that all sports need spectators. Not everyone agrees with me.

Yeah, besides it seems there starts to be quite a few positive cases, it wouldn't be surprising if some team will have to withdraw or send completely different players than intended, like Italian hockey team on this year's hockey championships..