As reported on Tuesday by AP News in an exclusive interview with Dick Pound, a senior member of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC has to make a decision in the next two or three months on whether it can hold the Olympics in Tokyo this summer in light of the coronavirus outbreak. This means that the decision would likely come in late May. “In and around that time, I’d say folks are going to have to ask: “Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo or not?’” Pound told The Associated Press.
Pound said that organizers are more likely to cancel the Games altogether, rather than postpone or move them if coronavirus isn’t under control. Pound told the AP, “You just don’t postpone something on the size and scale of the Olympics. There’s so many moving parts, so many countries and different seasons, and competitive seasons, and television seasons. You can’t just say, ‘We’ll do it in October’ and because there are few places in the world that could think of gearing up facilities in that short time to put something on.”
As the Games draw near, Pound said, “a lot of things have to start happening. You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels. The media folks will be in there building their studios.”
If the IOC decides the Olympic Games cannot go forward as scheduled in Tokyo, “you’re probably looking at a cancellation.”
The opening ceremony is scheduled for July 24, 2020 and around 11,000 athletes plus many more fans and support staff are scheduled to attend. According to the AP article, Pound encouraged athletes to keep training saying, “As far as we all know, you’re going to be in Tokyo. All indications are at this stage that it will be business as usual. So keep focused on your sport and be sure that the IOC is not going to send you into a pandemic situation.”
Pound says that the IOC is relying on consultations with the World Health Organization to make any move.
Covid-19, 2019-nCoV or the 2019 novel coronavirus, affects the respiratory system. Coronavirus actually refers to the group of viruses that this new strain belongs to, along with the common cold, flu, SARS and MERS. We reported on impacts the virus may have to the bike industry less than two weeks ago after the announcement that the Taipei Bike Show had been postponed, citing that some production and manufacturing delays, along with other supply chain disruptions within the bike industry were almost certain.
