Poll: Will the 2020 Olympics ever happen?

[Muse]

Cost Japan $25 billion already, more if cancelled. Voices in Japan are intensifying calling for cancellation due to the threat of super spreader events.

 

[Spacehead]

Are they even planning on having spectators? For some reason i was under the impression there would be few to none but i don't know where i got that from.

I have no idea if they will or not as i haven't been keeping up on this story. I do hear second hand that a lot of Japanese don't want it now.

 

[Muse]

Are they even planning on having spectators? For some reason i was under the impression there would be few to none but i don't know where i got that from.

I have no idea if they will or not as i haven't been keeping up on this story. I do hear second hand that a lot of Japanese don't want it now.

As I understand it, foreigners are forbidden to attend, but Japanese are not. I suppose they'll want some confirmation of safety... either vaccination or negative test(s). I don't know the current details.

 

[Artorias]

They should just move the cycle back another year and hold it next year, future Olympics scheduled would be pushed back two years.

I don't think it would be fair if Japan had to completely scrap the whole thing.

 

[Muse]

They should just move the cycle back another year and hold it next year, future Olympics scheduled would be pushed back two years.

I don't think it would be fair if Japan had to completely scrap the whole thing.

Really good thinking. I don't see why not. Well, the winter Olympics is scheduled in 2022, so that would be a concern. They would prefer to keep them staggered by 2 years.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can't see it making sense scrubbing them completely but it also makes no sense holding them this year, I think they should just delay another year. But keep the regular cycle going, you'll just end up with a year that has two Olympics. Summer and winter.

Another option is to hold them but greatly limit fans and have tons of safety protocols but honestly that's still asking for trouble I think. Even the athletes themselves being in close quarters with themselves, officials, then add things like media crews etc... lot of that stuff is kind of hard to social distance.

Covid is pretty much an athlete's nightmare because of the long term effects to breathing etc.

 

[Muse]

Covid is pretty much an athlete's nightmare because of the long term effects to breathing etc.

Maybe they can have a program to make sure the athletes are vaccinated. There's only so many.

 

[Svnla]

This is what my friends in Japan are saying:

The government already spent a fortune to set up the whole thing and already spent a lot of money for the delay so they do not want to do another year delay = cost more money.

The OIC/government are planning to run the Olympics games similar as the NBA ran the games in the "bubble" format because the majority of revenues are from TV broadcasting, not tickets.

The Japanese people are leery, especially with all the recent flare ups in Asia, even with countries that were able to handle the virus well earlier.

 

[Captante]

I think its a terrible idea BUT my guess is that they do end up being held despite the protests in Japan and international outcry.

 

[pmv]

They should just move the cycle back another year and hold it next year, future Olympics scheduled would be pushed back two years.

I don't think it would be fair if Japan had to completely scrap the whole thing.

Personally I'd rather they scrapped it, becuase I don't like the Olympics (the negatives about it outweigh the positives, even in normal times).

But putting my personal animus aside and trying to be objective about it, it does seem more logical to just delay it another year - not sure why they ruled that out.

But perhaps there is a reason why it would be impossibly-disruptive to change the cycle for all future Olympics? Is a lot of stuff planned far, far ahead? And also having only a 2-year gap to get the cycle back to normal again would presumably also be a problem?

 

[WelshBloke]

The Japanese people are leery, especially with all the recent flare ups in Asia, even with countries that were able to handle the virus well earlier.

Not leery enough to actually get vaccinated though. Their vaccination rates for a rich country are abysmal (they are sub 5% I think).

 

[snoopy7548]

Seeing as how it it's 2021, can they still call it the 2020 Olympics?

 

[Svnla]

Not leery enough to actually get vaccinated though. Their vaccination rates for a rich country are abysmal (they are sub 5% I think).

Even less than that. Only about 1% (the article date 4/2021).
Not just Japan but countries in that region are not doing well with vaccination .

New Zealand also has less than 1% of its people vaccinated. Australia and South Korea fare little better with under 3%.

Good article about some of the reasons why Japan has such low vaccination rate for a well developed country.

Is Japan's Low Immunization Rate a Problem for the Olympics? | Time

 

[LikeLinus]

I hope they still hold it this year or at a later date. We actually had a trip planned to go to Japan right before the Olympics for vacation, but COVID changed that. Funny thing is, I went to Osaka, Tokyo and Sapporo in Nov. 2019 for work. I purchased some Olympic 2020 merch for my mom, wife and kids. Wonder if it's worth anything since it says 2020 on it? lol

 

[Muse]

I think they'll hold it, possibly delaying. It's not just for us, it's for the athletes. If they have to they can limit venue attendance.

 

[WelshBloke]

If they have to they can limit venue attendance.

Even without any audience you are still probably talking about 10s of thousands of people coming to Japan from all over the world. It just takes one of them with a nasty variant in the country with one of the oldest populations on the planet and you've got a disaster.

Personally I just don't see the upside.
We get to risk hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives just to see who can run in a circle the fastest or jump over the highest bar.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Maybe they can just do the Olympics over zoom. I imagine most of these athletes have pretty good facilities at home for training in. I foresee a lot of water damaged phones for the pool based events.

 

[pmv]

Maybe they can just do the Olympics over zoom. I imagine most of these athletes have pretty good facilities at home for training in. I foresee a lot of water damaged phones for the pool based events.

Something like the Nintendo Wii or Kinect, maybe? E-sports! Track and field events competed in while 'working from home', via virtual reality headsets!

And a chance to sneak deathmatch quake (Oh, OK, CoD for those less ancient than me) in there as an Olympic event.

 

[Torn Mind]

The Olympics are probably the most expensive orgies ever...

 

[Spacehead]

I hope they still hold it this year or at a later date. We actually had a trip planned to go to Japan right before the Olympics for vacation, but COVID changed that. Funny thing is, I went to Osaka, Tokyo and Sapporo in Nov. 2019 for work. I purchased some Olympic 2020 merch for my mom, wife and kids. Wonder if it's worth anything since it says 2020 on it? lol

I guess this answers my own question about spectators, as did Muse, but they didn't/won't change the 2020 logo either.

Formerly scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the event was postponed in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will not allow international spectators. Despite being rescheduled for 2021, the event retains the Tokyo 2020 name for marketing and branding purposes.

 

[LikeLinus]

I guess this answers my own question about spectators, as did Muse, but they didn't/won't change the 2020 logo either.

We weren't going a few weeks before. So we were not actually attending the Olympics. Our vacation was planned before COVID hit, but at least we would get to the the changes to Tokyo. We are planning to go still, but might not be until Spring 2022.

In normal times, it would be fun to go, but I'd much rather travel all over Japan and enjoy the food, people, land, culture and so on from the various regions and cities.

 

[Spacehead]

I purchased some Olympic 2020 merch for my mom, wife and kids. Wonder if it's worth anything since it says 2020 on it? lol

Despite being rescheduled for 2021, the event retains the Tokyo 2020 name for marketing and branding purposes.

That's where i was going with that.

Whenever you do get there i hope you have a great time

 

[manly]

I think they'll hold it, possibly delaying. It's not just for us, it's for the athletes. If they have to they can limit venue attendance.

It's a massive undertaking to host the summer games, and due to a variety of scheduling factors, another delay just isn't in the cards. At this point, all signs are that they are going to host no matter what happens. Possibly the only variable is whether there are domestic spectators or not.

I realize that they're very different undertakings but if the NFL was able to run a 2020 season (mostly sans fans), you probably can "safely" host the games with lots of restrictions on athletes movement.

 

[spacejamz]

The Olympics are probably the most expensive orgies ever...

Winter Olympics: Record number of condoms given to athletes

More condoms are given to athletes than ever before, and there's also a surge in Tinder use.

www.bbc.com

Athletes competing in the (2018) Winter Olympics have been handed 110,000 condoms - a record number for the games.
It works out at roughly 38 condoms each and gives competitors enough opportunity to heat up what could be the coldest winter games in 20 years.

The Olympic Games in Rio in 2016 also saw a record number of condoms handed out to athletes in a summer games - 450,000.

Condoms were first given to athletes at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

 

[BurnItDwn]

If there was a list of countries ranked upon where people act in an orderly and organized fashion and can come close to universal vaccines and mask wearing, I think Japan would likely be #1 on that list.