Spectators From Overseas Are Barred From Tokyo Olympics

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: New York Times

TOKYO — Spectators from overseas will not be allowed to attend the Summer Olympics in Japan, organizers said on Saturday, making a major concession to the realities of Covid-19 even as they forged ahead with plans to hold the world’s largest sporting event. The Tokyo Games, which begin in July, were originally scheduled for 2020 but were delayed by a year because of the pandemic. The Tokyo organizing committee has been scrambling to develop safety protocols to protect both participants and local residents from the virus. Concern has been running high in Japan, with big majorities saying in polls that the Games should not be held this summer.

The decision, which the Tokyo organizers made jointly with the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the national and local governments in Japan, had been foreshadowed in the Japanese media for weeks. Thomas Bach, the president of the I.O.C., has encouraged national organizing committees to secure vaccines for athletes, and he announced this month that China had offered to provide vaccinations for participants who required one ahead of the Games. But not all local spectators will have the chance to be inoculated before the Olympics open on July 23.

In Japan, where the vaccine rollout has been relatively slow, the population will not be close to fully vaccinated by the time the Games start. The organizing committees will now have the enormous headache of arranging refunds for ticket buyers. In bidding for the Games, the Tokyo organizers said that 7.8 million tickets would be made available. Typically, about 10 to 20 percent of Olympic tickets go to international spectators. Japanese fans could take up some of the slack. Local demand for tickets far outstripped the supply, at least before the pandemic.

The coronavirus has had a comparatively muted effect on Japan, which has had far fewer cases and deaths than the United States and Western Europe. The country has reported just over 8,700 Covid-19 deaths since the pandemic began. Japan declared a widespread state of emergency in early January after a rise in infections. Since then, most areas have lifted the declaration. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced this week that it would be ended in Tokyo.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/20/world/asia/tokyo-olympics-spectators.html

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I think this was pretty much expected. The "villages" where the athletes will be staying (or however they are going to do this in Tokyo given the pandemic) are potentially going to be mass super-spreader opportunities unless they are all put in a bubble.

[TexasTowelie]

1. But the judge from East Germany still gets to attend and rig the scores? nt

[hlthe2b]

2. 'East Germany'? Are we transporting back to 1988?

[TexasTowelie]

3. That judge was the one stranded on an island in the North Sea during the Cold War

and never heard that the Berlin Wall fell.

[Rebl2]

4. I thought

they decided that a few weeks ago. Guess they were just considering it then.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. There was speculation that they were going to do this

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142705657

So now it is official!

[Phoenix61]

6. I would expect everyone involved will be vaccinated by then.

As massive of a production as the Olympics are there’s a finite number of people involved. I’m more concerned about the child athletes. Not sure they can even get the vaccine.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. The vaccination is not a "cure" nor a guarantee of no spread

But it can reduce the level of spread, and more importantly, it would help reduce the severity of an infection if contracted.

And agree about those who are under 18, which makes up a large percentage of the gymnastics group and possibly some of the tennis group.

Pfizer & AstraZeneca have already been going through trials for pediatric use and Moderna recently announced their trials last week.

In those cases, I expect the dosage level is what they would probably need to determine for effectiveness given a child's body mass is generally less than an adult and their immune systems are often still developing (and/or can be more highly responsive/reactive to a foreign substance).

[Phoenix61]

8. And ice skating. An amazing number of Olympic

athletes are children. I always thought that was pretty wild. I can’t imagine having that level of discipline or motivation at that age...or any age for that matter.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Oh I know the ice skating but didn't mention it

because what is coming up is the "Summer Olympics". By the time we get to the Winter Olympics, there will hopefully be a good number of vaccinated young people! You'll also see the younger hockey players in that crowd of competitors since even the regular pro teams tend to get them right out of high school or just after.

Beijing is scheduled to host the 2022 Winter Olympics so I expect all kinds of protocols will be put in place regardless, since a number of things will be indoors.

[Phoenix61]

11. Oops, forgot that. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

12. They used to do them "in the same year"

but now stagger each one so there is an event every 2 years.

The obvious problem this past year was the pandemic, which delayed the Summer Olympics until this year (it was supposed to happen last summer - in 2020 - with the Winter Olympics to happen in 2022)!

[DinahMoeHum]

19. So, the IOC should swallow its fucking pride. . .

. . .and have the summer Games in 2022 as well. Just to be on the safe side and have the Japanese get their tourist revenue.

Yeesh. They really split the baby with this one.

[BumRushDaShow]

20. It's been 20 years since both events were held the same year (1992)

WINTER, SUMMER OLYMPICS SWITCH TO 2-YEAR ROTATION

Thomas Netter, Special to The Tribune
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
OCTOBER 15, 1986 LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND

The International Olympic Committee voted nearly unanimously Tuesday to hold the Summer and Winter Games in different years in a move aimed at focusing more attention on the winter events. The Olympics will go on as scheduled in 1988 and 1992. Then another Winter Olympics will be held in 1994 and they will go on a four-year cycle. The Summer Games will remain on the present schedule. This will put the international events two years apart. The IOC also agreed to a cautious, partial opening of certain sports to professionals, who have been banned for most of the Games history.

But it left the crucial question of allowing tennis pros to play unanswered, pending a meeting in Istanbul in May. Willi Daume of West Germany, chairman of the IOC`s eligibility committee, said the games would now be open to professionals in four sports, beginning in 1988: ice hockey, equestrian events (with the agreement of the International Equestrian Federation) and soccer, as well as track and field events involving athletes that are professional in other sports.

In soccer, the IOC said, all North American, Asian and South American players who had yet to compete in a World Cup could participate in the 1988 events. IOC officials said there was virtually no opposition to the proposal of holding the Summer and Winter Games in different years. ''I think it is a good decision,'' said Linda Chase, vice president of the Organizing Committee from Anchorage, which hopes to stage the 1992 Winter Games. ''The Winter Games have always received less attention than the summer events. This will focus new attention on the winter events.

''If you talk to many people about the Olympics, they usually mention the swimming or hurdles or the track and field events. But they don`t talk about the ski jumping or the luge, which are just as exciting.'' Chase and others said a key result of the decision would be to spread out the coverage on television, which is the most lucrative aspect of the Games and is currently packed into one year. The move is expected to lead to even larger revenues for coverage of the winter events. Although the Winter Olympics involve fewer events than the Summer Games and are acknowledged to appeal to a smaller audience, they still command a wide audience and increasing television revenues.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-10-15-8603170646-story.html

I expect because Tokyo probably spent lots of $$$$$$$ to get ready and then you have the athletes who are "aging" and may end up going "past peak" performance should it get delayed another year. The youngest would probably be fine if they delayed and the multiple repeats would probably chalk it up and be done with it (but then they had already been there done that). However some of the "middle" group might end up getting impacted as much as the repeaters, going "past peak", although they could refine techniques that might be a benefit.

It's really as shame for any who train so hard for this and then the whole thing gets upended.

[DinahMoeHum]

21. Yeah, well, there were athletes in the early-mid 1940s. . .

. . .who couldn't participate in an Olympics because of a fucking world war.

And there were athletes in 1980 and 1984 who couldn't participate because their countries' governments decided to boycott.

Life sucks, at times.

And there's no law that says the Olympics have to be with us forever.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. Oh I know

There are many who want it to go back to having both events every 4 years and then there's another crowd who thinks the whole thing is a ridiculous, extravagant spectacle, particularly when you have so many people suffering from governmental unrest, environmental calamities, and extreme poverty.

However, IMHO, even with the cheating that often happens, it is one of the rare times when "the world" (or at least those who are willing and able to participate) gets together, competes, and "shows off". It gives folks an opportunity to see how diverse the planet is.

[Wild blueberry]

9. Hope Japan gets going on its vaccine rollout

Have a friend who's lived there for decades. Vaccine rollout hasn't even begun.

[Traildogbob]

13. I expect

Every part of the world will start banning the US until Rand Paul and GQP are banned from policy decisions. We are the Petri dish of bullshit, with a medium that makes it grow like the cancer it is.
Truth be known, Russia most likely don’t want our ignorant asses visiting to spread disease.

[EX500rider]

14. Since the US is in the top 10 in the world in percentage of vaccinations given I doubt that. nt

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1194939/rate-covid-vaccination-by-county-worldwide/

[Traildogbob]

16. Does that include

Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Dakota, MAGA Quanons, Evilgelicals antivaxers, MT Green and Boebarf cultists? Anybody from Fox, OAN and News????Max and maskholes?

[EX500rider]

17. Yes, as percentage of population that includes everyone, over 33% and climbing.

Way ahead of Europe or Russia or Japan or China etc

[bucolic_frolic]

15. Hope no earthquakes

during pole vault or high jump. Could set records and result in a lot of arguments.

[Crowman2009]

18. Wouldn't be surprised if the main stadium will be as empty as the 1932 Summer Olympics in L.A.

Which was due to the great depression.