If the Olympics have officially been cancelled, then that’s really sad. I was really looking forward to watching the games since it’s almost been five years since the last one (Rio 2016), however I understand that the health and safety of everyone must come first.
Seven will be disappointed no doubt.
At least they’ll most likely get a refund for what they’ve paid for, unless if the IOC has decided to back off that idea.
Of the IOC had any brains they would have last year organised to have them moved to Sydney or at least Australia for 2021. The site of the best Olympics ever is in great condition.
I would’ve thought the fair thing for the IOC and the organising committee to do is push back this and all the future already announced Olympic summer games by 4 years, so effectively rescheduling Tokyo to 2024, Paris to 2028, Los Angeles to 2032, that way all the Tokyo effort isn’t wasted because of something not in anyone’s control.
And would Paris have really begun preparations at this point?
surely they dont need to make a decision now, still 6 months out. Worst case; surely a fully vaccinated spectator-free event is still possible.
However Reuters reports the IOC president Thomas Bach reaffirming the Tokyo Games will go ahead this year.
If not now, when?
There’s so many complications including qualifying events and logistics.
What if Sydney had an outbreak (like they did) and Japan was under control by that point. Wouldn’t have made sense.
Even though one of the latest COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney has happened only a stones throw away from Olympic Park?
Also if we’re being realistic, both Melbourne and South East Queensland will likely have the Olympics before Sydney gets to hold them again.
idk June? let the qualifiers go ahead, everyone in every industry has had to get used to going about life under a cloud of uncertainty in the last 12 months. dont see why olympics would be any different.
Part of the challenge with qualifiers is they are cross-continental and dealing with border closures/issues.
Because you are bringing 10,000 athletes + support staff from different points of the globe to one centralised location. That’s why it is different.
It’s not as simple as team v team sport and the like
Firstly, there would be huge protocols, daily testing, quarantine when not at events etc. They’ll all mostly be vaccinated by that point also. Homebush/Olympic Park would also be a perfect bubble.
Secondly, Sydney has all the facilities at an already established Olympic Park, given they’re the most recent city in Australia to have held the games. It wouldn’t take too long to get it ready compared to Melbourne or South East Queensland. Remember, the Olympics isn’t just about having stadiums. Furthermore, Sydney was on standby in case Rio weren’t ready in time, which there were genuine concerns about.
If the Olympics do get canceled, it’ll be interesting to see whether the compensation would be momentary or if Seven will be given the rights to the next Summer Olympics. What would complicate the latter is that (unless things have changed) under the rights agreement which gave Seven the rights to the Tokyo Olympics, they already have an option to secure the rights to the 2024 Summer Olympics
iirc these olympics were good value for 7, they got 4x Olympics for a similar price to what 9 paid for london alone. and 3 of them are in good time zones, and the deal was inked during a period where the price of other sports rights were skyrocketing. So not really the type of thing they’d be keen on a refund for, i’d say they’d rather the event go ahead.
… the “preparations” begin even before the city is selected and start in earnest as soon as it is … so yes, they’ve begun …
OK, 3 years to go yes of course they’ve begun preparations but would it be a big negative for Paris if today it was announced their games were delayed 4 years?
The longer the IOC wait before announcing a change the worse impact for everyone.
I agree. If it’s possible to do so, then the Tokyo Olympics should be held in 2024 (hopefully by which point in time, the world will be close to something vaguely resembling 2019 normality) with the already scheduled Paris & LA games pushed back to 2028 and 2032 respectively.
Australian Olympic Committee chief Matt Carroll says Tokyo Olympics ARE going ahead with significant changes.:
no ceremonies , athletes arriving with 5 days of competing and leaving with 2 days of competing, athletes will go to the village, and do training, and return to the village and nothing else
seems a bit dramatic to let covids impact extend to events over 12 years, I think worst case scenario would be another 12 month delay. don’t see why it needs to impact Paris or LA at all.
2022 isn’t workable because of other sporting events scheduled then, for example the football World Cup and the Olympic winter games.
The AOC are being dictated to by the IOC and the like. They have to act like it is going ahead for athlete and broadcaster confidence.
Ultimately I think the call will be out of their hands and made by Japan’s government.