The Olympics are supposed to be a time for sports, excitement, competition, fun and some bonding as we cheer on our countries. However, this year’s games have been riddled with difficulties, scandals, and Covid-19.
To kick off the difficulties, the Tokyo games had to be moved to the summer of 2021 due to the spread of Covid-19 throughout the summer of 2020. With cases rising in countries all over the world, and many in dire conditions because of the virus, there was no way the games could be held safely. With that being the case, the games were canceled and moved to this summer.
Now we fast forward to this year. Even in the past month or two, people have been heavily doubting that the games could be held while keeping everybody safe from Covid-19. Beyond that, a lot of those worries were happening before the Delta Variant began to spread all over the world. And so when the Delta variant did start to concern people, that just made the doubt for the games’ continuation even stronger. To add to that concern, Japan has been experiencing rises in cases over the past month and a half which has seen the announcement of several states of emergency from the country’s leader. Even as we begin to move into the start of the games, cases in Japan are continuing to rise, leading many to believe that the games should be stopped, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen.
As preparations for the games have gone on, they have been trying to come up with ways to keep the athletes and the Olympic staff members safe from Covid-19. This has meant setting up containment spaces for everyone taking part in the games, whether they be an athlete or part of staff. One of the main containment spaces is known as the Olympic village, and is made up of several buildings where everyone sleeps, dines and spends their time ahead of the games. Before the games start, and while the games are going on, everyone who is staying inside of these villages is supposed to remain there, in fear that if they go out into the general public, they will contract Covid-19.
Despite all of their efforts, however, Covid-19 has found its way into the Olympics, and the situation just seems to be getting worse. Up until Sunday, there had been zero reports of Covid-19 within the Olympic village. That all changed, however, when two members of the South African soccer team tested positive for the virus and were forced to go into quarantine. The rest of the team have also gone into quarantine while awaiting the results of their own tests. Beyond that, 6 athletes from team Great Britain and two staff members tested positive for the virus, forcing them into isolation as well. Over the weekend alone there were 25 athletes and staff who tested positive for Covid-19, and since July 1, there have been approximately 55 people associated with the games forced into isolation due to a positive test.
The Us has also had athletes test positive for the virus ahead of the games. On Sunday, U.S. tennis player Coco Gauff announced on Twitter that she would not be taking part in the games due to testing positive. Then on Monday, alternate member of the gymnastics team Kara Eaker received the news that she had tested positive while training. The positive part of that was that she did not have any close contact with the preliminary members of the team. Also on Monday, 3x3 women’s basketball team member Katie Lou Samuelson tested positive. She has been replaced by Jackie Young for the games. When it comes to the vaccination status of these three athletes, it is unclear whether Gauff had been vaccinated, but Eaker and Samuelson were both fully vaccinated well before testing positive.
The concern is growing so high for the games, that it is affecting how some view the situation. Toyota, a global sponsor for the games, declared on Monday that it would not be airing any advertisements associated with the games inside of Japan. The only problem with this plan was that the company is already airing advertisements in several other countries all over the world. They also said that they would not be sending any company executives to the games. They’re reasoning behind all of this is that they find the situation increasingly controversial, and that they don’t want to be a part of it. Several other corporate entities are doing the same, fearing that their reputations would be damaged if they backed the games. The mood for the games was further lowered when TV footage showed foreigners associated with the games breaking restrictions. It has gotten to the point where head of the Olympics Organizing Committee Toshiro Muto brought up the possibility that the games could still be canceled completely, saying, “We can’t predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases.”
Beyond the Covid-19 issue, there have been some other scandals going on that have given the whole thing a bad look. Over the weekend, an Olympic staff member from Uzbekistan was arrested on sexual assault charges against a Japanese colleague. Along with this, earlier this month four contractors from the US and England were arrested on drug charges. Even more to these problems was the disappearance of a Ugandan weightlifter on Friday. He failed to show up for a Covid-19 test and all they found in his hotel room was a note saying that he left to go find work and asked for his belongings to be sent to his family. He was found 4 days later, 105 miles away from the Olympic village. All of this is added to the fact that people have been worried about the safety of the athletes, as the heat has been pounding in Japan. Most feel that the precautions taken to protect the athletes against the heat have been horribly lacking, and yet nothing is being done to better them.
The games are scheduled to start on Friday, the 23rd. However, with all of these problems going on, and with the potential for more Covid-19 cases down the line, we could see the games face more complexities or even a full cancelation. For more news on the situation, make sure to watch for more articles here, and give us a follow on Twitter to get all the latest breaking news and the latest updates on all of your favorite stories.
