Will The Tokyo Olympics Be Postponed Again?
January 27, 2021
With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, many critics are debating whether Tokyo will postpone the Olympics again. The Olympics have only been canceled 3 times, once during World War 1 and twice during World War 2; it has never been canceled not due to war. Last year, due to the spike in COVID-19 cases all around the world, Tokyo postponed the Olympics by one year. They are set to take place from July 23rd to August 8th, 2021.
Yoshiro Modi said in an event organized by the Kyodo news agency that “having even the slight sense of uncertainty impacts everything. All I can say is that we will go ahead with our preparations.” That quote, however, is quite contradictory. If they go through with the games and even one person somehow obtains the virus, Tokyo will receive heavy backlash from the media and ruin their reputation. However, the athletes that participate in the Olympics work their whole lives to perform on a live stage watched by the world. It’s sad to see people work so hard to achieve their goals and get nothing in return.
However, people might ask what’s more important? People’s lives or athlete’s dreams? Tokyo has also put aside 1.64 trillion yen (15.7 billion dollars) to host the Olympics. Tokyo could play this two ways: hold the Olympics this year with limited attendance, collecting not even half the potential income, or wait until 2024 (the next summer Olympics) and host it with full attendance and collect more revenue. If they postponed it to 2024, the anticipation would also be higher, bringing in higher attendance. Tokyo must be very careful with what they do here, their economy, reputation, and society as a whole depends on it.
Source:
www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/daily_videos/digital-currency-bitcoin-attracts-new-mainstream-appeal/
