Japan Picks Up Olympic Committee Baton, Keeps Planning for Games

Reed Stevenson

18 Mar 2020, 11:26 PM IST

(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Olympics organizers will continue with preparations for the Tokyo Games this summer, emboldened by the International Olympic Committee’s statement that the games will go ahead as planned in an “unprecedented situation.”

The push to go ahead follows mounting calls to at least delay the competition. Alejandro Blanco, president of Spain’s Olympic Committee, suggested postponing the events, and Canadian ice hockey player and International Olympic Committee member Hayley Wickenheiser said moving ahead with the games would be “insensitive and irresponsible.” Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the games should be pushed back a year.

In an emailed statement, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said it would “continue to work closely with the IOC and other stakeholders at home and abroad to prepare for games that will be safe.”

Sporting events in the U.S., Japan and other countries have been canceled, delayed or held without spectators because of the coronavirus outbreak, and broader lockdowns have shut down businesses and social activity. Earlier this week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began to shift his messaging on the games, in a sign he may have accepted that a delay might be inevitable.

For more on the Tokyo Olympics:
Olympics Organizers Still Confident, Acknowledge Threat to Games Japan’s Abe Appears to Signal Virus Could Delay Tokyo Olympics Will Coronavirus Take Out the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?: QuickTake An Olympics With Empty Stands Is One of Tokyo’s Bad Options

Almost two-thirds of Japanese voters think the Olympics should be postponed due to the pandemic, according to a recent poll. With a growing number of qualifying events already canceled, the summer start date is looking increasingly ambitious. The Tokyo Organizing Committee is asking that spectators stay away from Japan’s torch relay starting later this month, News reported, an event usually expected to drum up excitement for the games.

“The IOC remains fully committed to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and with more than four months to go before the Games there is no need for any drastic decisions at this stage,” the International Olympic committee said in a statement Wednesday, while acknowledging that the situation is changing “day-by-day.”