The Tokyo Marathon was cancelled to the public because of the virus. Now, the IOC and event organizers are waiting to make a call on the Games.
The 2020 Olympic Games are scheduled to kick off in Tokyo on July 24, but with the spread of the coronavirus seemingly not slowing down, event organizers might be faced with a tough decision.
In an interview with the Associated Press, senior International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound said that the committee has a three-month window of time to decide whether to host the Tokyo Games or cancel the event, depending on the status of the virus.
If the virus is still spreading rapidly by late May, “You’re probably looking at a cancellation,” Pound told the A.P.
The virus—which originated in Wuhan, China, and began spreading in December 2019—has infected 77,658 people and caused 2,663 deaths in China so far, as well as 977 people in South Korea, 10 of whom died from the disease, according to the Australian Department of Health of February 26 , 23 cases of Coronavirus confirmed in Australia.
Because of the outbreak, the World Indoor Championships, scheduled for mid-March in Nanjing, China, was postponed to 2021. The Tokyo Marathon, scheduled for March 1, also cancelled its mass participation race, though it will still host elite men’s and women’s races.
Of course, cancelling an Olympic Games is much more devastating than cancelling any other event. Athletes build entire four-year training blocks around the Olympics, cities plan enormous operations to construct the necessary facilities, and TV broadcast networks worldwide bank on the summer coverage. The IOC cannot simply delay the Olympics until the fall or move it to another city, Pound said.
“You just don’t postpone something on the size and scale of the Olympics. There’s so many moving parts, so many countries and different seasons, and competitive seasons, and television seasons,” Pound told the A.P.
He continued, “To move the place is difficult because there are few places in the world that could think of gearing up facilities in that short time to put something on.”
Crazy to think there is a chance the 2020 Olympics could get cancelled. #2020Olympics #TokyoOlympics https://t.co/ChyFEIJQlr
— Roger P. Bicknell II (@rbicknellii) February 26, 2020
As of now, Pound said the Olympics are scheduled to happen as planned. According to him, the IOC is currently waiting to consult with the World Health Organization (WHO) before making a decision. In the meantime, he recommended that athletes continue preparing as usual for the championship this summer.
“Certainly the advice we’re receiving externally from the WHO is that there’s no case for any contingency plans or cancelling the games or moving the games,” John Coates, the head of an IOC inspection team, said last month in Tokyo.
Tokyo organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto addressed Pound’s comments in a press conference with the A.P. on February 26.
“Our basic thoughts are that we will go ahead with the Olympic and Paralympic Games as scheduled,” Muto told the A.P. “For the time being, the situation of the coronavirus infection is, admittedly, difficult to predict, but we will take measures such that we’ll have a safe Olympic and Paralympic Games.”