
Canadian athletes will not compete at Tokyo 2020 Games due to Covid-19 risks - the_unknown
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/canadian-olympic-committee-tokyo-2020-ioc-1.5506291
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the_unknown
And with the UK signalling that they were about to drop out as well.... we are
now postponed for a year.

[https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/52002474](https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/52002474)

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Cyclone_
It seems at this point the games will be held in 2021, this seems mostly like
a symbolic decision.

~~~
pmachinery
It's unbelievable to me it hasn't already been postponed. I expected it weeks
ago, along with the postponement of Euro 2020.

Nobody in their right mind should even be remotely considering holding a major
global event this year.

~~~
chewz
For Japan PM Abe Olympic Games 2020 is the point of honor - he does not care
if people will die. That's why Japan puts obstacles to coronavirus testing.

It is a long and convoluted story. 1964 Tokyo Olympics - organized by Abe's
grandfather - then Japan PM (yes, Japan is democracy but political
establishment is hereditary) - are seen as a start of Japan's economic
miracle.

[https://www.ft.com/content/d6142984-194b-11e3-83b9-00144feab...](https://www.ft.com/content/d6142984-194b-11e3-83b9-00144feab7de)

[https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/09/05/the-1964-toky...](https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/09/05/the-1964-tokyo-
olympics-a-turning-point-for-japan/)

~~~
mikekchar
Although I am far from an Abe fan, I honestly don't think this is it. I
_think_ what he is doing is casting doubt on whether or not the Olympics will
go ahead. This will slow down the rate at which cancellations in hotel
accommodations will happen. I think the idea is probably to cushion the shock
to the economy. He'll probably cast doubt as long as he feasibly can and then
announce a postponement.

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the_unknown
[https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/olympics-canada-australia-
wi...](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/olympics-canada-australia-withdraw-
from-tokyo-2020.html)

Australia is distancing itself as well. I don't expect it will take long
before others join in.

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dynamite-ready
I can understand why the IOC (and perhaps Japan) are delaying the decision.
But the Canadians are probably right, and their lead will be followed.

Can't see many countries risking their top athletes right now, anyway.

Even the opening ceremony would be a massive risk according to what's
currently known.

A lot can happen in 4 weeks, but the changes that need to take place in time
for the Olympics (Vaccine? Effective treatment? Scalable testing and
containment?) appear to be a long way off.

And what happens if the IOC end up needing to ban certain countries still
fighting the issue?

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hackeraccount
I don't understand why they don't just cut back on the number of events. Or
the number of athletes/personnel allowed per country.

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aaron695
If the world can't get together for one global event then we are really
fucked.

It would be pretty important if we could pull this off.

Part I suspect is the money in winning and how some countries won't be at 100%
vs let's prove as humans we can achieve something as a global community in a
crisis.

There can't be in person spectators and there will be isolations either side.

But we can do it.

~~~
lozenge
Maybe athletes don't want to risk their lives for a grand gesture?

We can achieve something. Just not this.

~~~
beatgammit
I imagine it's less about the athletes than the spectators. Or at least I hope
so, since the Olympics is best watched in groups.

