To be or not to be- The Tokyo Olympics

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Last week started with a round table with colleagues from the football industry, all eager to share their stories.  A number of those had enjoyed the opportunity to open their turnstiles to the public for the first time since lockdown 1 in the autumn.
The pleasure that the clubs had taken in the preparation and subsequent opening of the gates to their fans, was evident.  The joy experienced by staff in dealing with members of the public was clear. These feelings appear to have been reciprocated by the public, and whilst there were a few stories of belligerent non-mask wearers, there were not enough to take the shine off the reopening.  I guess in any free society there will always be a few dissenting voices.

There was a further element common to all those present, not one of the of the clubs talked about the cost or effort involved in making the event happen.  The sheer joy of opening the turnstiles outweighed any economic considerations.
The discussion showed that we are, after all, social beings, and we currently crave the opportunity to interact with each other!

That said, reports are circulating, that discussions are taking place to cancel this summer’s Olympics. This was initially disheartening. However, thinking about it further, this may not be as disappointing as first thought. Whilst organisers are playing down the possibility of cancellation, it is unclear what a reworked model of the games accommodating COVID requirements would actually look like.
If we look forward 7 months to August, will the vaccination process allow a crowd to be allowed to attend the games?  If so, will the crowd be socially distanced? Plus, will they be wearing masks? Will they be allowed to sing a national anthem?  From the athlete’s point of view, what will a crowd-less Olympiad feel like?  Performing in this environment it may feel antiseptic, the Olympic village will be a bubble, which will have a very different feel to the village in Rio. 

Will this scenario fulfil the ambitions the Japanese held for the Games when they submitted their bid 8 years ago? As it stands, the joy will surely be been sucked out of the Olympiad?  I would suggest that this will be a shadow of what we have come to expect.
It is understandable that the Japanese government, having invested vast amounts of money in the event, want to see the Olympic Games take place as soon as possible.  However, a counter perspective is that the adapted games would not be an Olympic Games in the way the Games have been over the last 124 years.  Consequently, the social impact of the games will be significantly diluted.      Against which we should measure the potential impact that Japan could expect on their society if a successful Games were delayed until 2032, for example. 

Despite the obvious disappointment, and the despondent message that these cancelled events send, this will pass in time. 
It is worth reflecting that patience may well be the winner.

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