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TOKYO – With only six months left until the start of the Summer Olympics here, one of the biggest challenges to overcome involves the athletes themselves, or the lack of them.
Only 57% of the approximately 11,000 places are occupied, according to the International Olympic Committee. Most qualifying tournaments are scheduled for March or later, but the coronavirus pandemic continues to cloud the outlook.
The qualifiers are just one of the uncertainties facing the long-delayed Tokyo Games, which were plagued by fresh doubts this week prompting another government guarantee that the event continues.
“International organizations tell us that they are going forward [with qualifiers], but there is absolutely no definitive information, “said a person involved in the games.
Competitive skateboarding will debut at the Olympics, but no preliminaries have been scheduled and no spots have been designated. The fencing and boxing qualifiers, among other sports, are also on the air.
The final art swimming preliminaries will take place from March 4-7 in Tokyo. But according to Japan’s ongoing emergency declaration, new international arrivals are prohibited as a rule. Those entering the country are expected to self-isolate for two weeks, and lawmakers may hesitate to reopen an exemption for Olympians.
Organizations representing gymnastics and boxing are considering skipping the playoffs altogether. Instead, athletes would be chosen based on their records. But this arrangement runs the risk of drawing criticism about equity.
“We are in a situation where everyone needs to hang on,” said Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation. “The first priority is figuring out how to celebrate” the Tokyo Games.
Preventing the spread of COVID-19 represents a potentially greater challenge. IOC President Thomas Bach said his organization will pay for vaccines given to athletes. But the competitors come from roughly 200 countries and territories, all with widely disparate vaccination schedules and infection rates. It is uncertain whether vaccines will reach all athletes quickly.
The organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics plans to request that athletes complete a rigorous examination before leaving their respective countries, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.
But the difficult-to-detect incubation period for the coronavirus creates enormous difficulties in trying to stop all infected people from crossing the border. More than 70 people have been forced to quarantine in hotel rooms after positive cases were found on charter flights carrying tennis players to the Australian Open tournament.
The Tokyo city government and the organizing committee intend to send doctors to the Olympic venues. But Toshio Nakagawa, president of the Japan Medical Association, questioned the region’s ability to hospitalize athletes who fall ill.
“Admission will be difficult given the current healthcare environment,” Nakagawa said in a speech Friday in Tokyo.
Exactly how many viewers will be allowed into Japan remains undecided. The government is weighing three scenarios: no fan limit, 50% seating capacity, or no spectators.
The spread of more infectious coronavirus variants makes the more optimistic scenarios seem less feasible than they did last fall, when the numbers of new infections in Japan were lower.
A path will likely need to be cleared for the celebration of the games before the Olympic torch relay, which begins on March 25. Last year, Bach and then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe postponed the Olympics just two days before the initial relay started in Japan.
Once the torch relay begins, any movement to halt the preparations for the games is expected to face a higher barrier.
Outside of Japan, new doubts have been raised about the possibility of holding the Tokyo Games.
“If I were in the place of the organizing committee in Tokyo, I would be making plans for a cancellation, and I’m sure they have plans for a cancellation,” Keith Mills, former vice chairman of the organizing committee for the London Olympics. he said on BBC radio.
Kevan Gosper, a former vice president of the Australian IOC, suggests having an independent body involved in any decision on canceling the Olympics.
“If you were looking for a third party who would acknowledge that this has gone beyond being a sport-related issue or simply related to the national interest,” Gosper said on an Australian show, “then there might be a case to go to the United Nations and look their participation in the arbitration whether the games go ahead or not. “
No prominent calls have been received from athletes to cancel or postpone games. USA Swimming, an organization that called for the postponement of the Olympics last year, published an open letter last month saying “our hope for recovery is strong.”
Michael Schirp, a press officer for the German Olympic Sports Confederation, said athletes expect the games to take place, even if cuts have to be made.
Bach said Thursday: “At this time we have no reason to believe that the Tokyo Olympics will not open on July 23.”
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