The Tokyo Olympics once again clarified the opening time
The Chairman of the International Olympic Committee Coordination Committee Coates made it clear on the 7th that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23 next year, regardless of the new crown virus.
The most “bumpy” Olympic Games
At the beginning of 2020, due to the global spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, whether the Tokyo Olympics can be held as scheduled has been undecided. Prior to this, the Japanese government had announced five times that the Tokyo Olympics would not be postponed. However, under the pressure of Canada and Australia to directly announce their withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympics and the appeal of many countries to postpone the meeting, the Tokyo Olympics finally adopted an unprecedented postponement decision.
·On March 24, the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee issued a joint statement that the 32nd Tokyo Olympic Games needs to be rescheduled after 2020, but not later than the summer of 2021. The Olympic tinder will remain in Japan. constant.
·On March 30, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee and other Japanese parties reached an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to confirm that the Tokyo Olympics will open on July 23, 2021 and close on August 8. An unprecedented postponement decision.
·Despite the strong support of the International Olympic Committee, on July 19, according to a public opinion survey published by Kyodo News, only 23.9% of the people interviewed supported the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021 as planned; support for the Tokyo Olympics should continue to be postponed As many as 70.1% of respondents supported cancellation.
· Japan’s Daiichi Life Economic Research Institute estimates that the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics will cost Japan about 3 trillion yen, or about 27 billion US dollars. For Japan whose economy has been sluggish, this is tantamount to sprinkling salt on the wound.
The cost of the “most expensive” Olympics soars
On September 4, Oxford University issued a report stating that the Tokyo Olympics had spent 15.84 billion U.S. dollars, surpassing the previous record of the highest cost of the Summer Olympics-14.95 billion U.S. dollars in the 2012 London Olympics, making it the most expensive Summer Olympics in history. When Tokyo won the right to host the Olympic Games in 2013, the cost was estimated to be US$7.3 billion. The cost of overspending in Tokyo has exceeded 200%. This was even before the COVID-19 pandemic was delayed by a year and added billions of dollars. As the epidemic is delayed, the cost is still increasing
Second best
Streamlining the Olympics
The Japanese Olympic Committee is also in a dilemma. On the one hand, such a high cost has been spent. If you give up the event, the time and money you have spent before will be wiped out; and if you continue to persist, the cost of the event will become higher and higher as time goes on.
Toshiro Muto, CEO of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, said that the 2021 Olympics is likely to limit the number of spectators, but will try to avoid the no-spectator mode. The opening and closing ceremonies will be streamlined and the number of representatives and staff of various countries will be reduced. There were originally more than 11,000 athletes planning to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, but the exact number of athletes who will eventually make the trip is not yet known. However, it will inevitably greatly affect various consumer activities including hotels, tourism and peripheral services. This is undoubtedly another punch to the sluggish economy. “It’s great if there are enough vaccines, but it’s not said that the Olympics will not be held without a vaccine. This is not a prerequisite.”
Yoshiro Mori, chairman of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, said in April this year that if Tokyo could not host the Olympics in 2021, the Olympics would be cancelled. International Olympic Committee President Bach explained that “the Olympic Organizing Committee cannot hire 3000 to 5000 staff for a long time, and you cannot change the overall plan of global sports events once a year.”
The preparations for the Olympics were originally a complicated and arduous task. The ups and downs of the Tokyo Olympics have become even more difficult along the way. However, for Japan, holding the Olympics as scheduled will still be a “life-saving straw” to boost national morale and save the economic system that is on the brink of collapse.
Both the Chairman of the International Olympic Committee Coordination Committee John Coates and the Chairman of the International Olympic Committee Bach have expressed their belief that the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics will become a “symbol of hope” in the fight against the new crown epidemic. We are living in an era of uncertainty. The Tokyo Olympics can and should be “a dawn at the end of the tunnel” for all mankind. At the end of this difficult period, I hope that the Tokyo Olympics can become a great symbol of human hope, optimism, diversity and unity-not only for sports, but also for the entire human society.