Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are in danger of being postponed because of the coronavirus. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is already evaluating this situation and will issue a resolution in about a month.
In a press release, the IOC revealed that the Japanese government would suffer a heavy economic blow of 15,000 million dollars (3,000 million by national sponsorship and 12,000 million that have already been invested until today).
Due to international pressure from national Olympic committees and federations, which have requested a postponement, the decision was made to evaluate the postponement of the Olympic Games. In addition to the pandemic, most elite athletes remain in quarantine with no opportunity to train at a good level. Canada spoke before this discussion and informed the International Committee that it will not send its athletes to the projected Olympic Games in July.
One possibility is that the games take place on October 9 and end sixteen days later, this alternative would be similar to the first Olympics that Japan organized in 1964. This option would allow the marathon and the famous walk test to be held in Tokyo and not Sapporo, the downside is that they would take place in the high temperatures of the capital.
Today Shinzo Abe said that he does not have in mind to postpone the Olympic Games, but due to the world situation, he begins to consider this option to safeguard the health of athletes.
He added that during several hours of the day his temperature exceeded 30 degrees, as did the entire group of volunteers, in addition to reluctance and dizziness. After dark, the symptoms decreased markedly and body temperature returned to normal.
Researchers led by Chen Wei, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a researcher at the Military Medical Institute of the Academy of Military Sciences, recommended not to worry about these side effects and called the new vaccine «the most powerful technological weapon» for a finish with the COVID-19.