As the dark shadow of the novel coronavirus spreads ever further across the globe, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games were, on March 24 postponed to 2021 – though in what looks like a smart move for merchandizers and marketers, the brand will remain “Toyko 2020.”
After an initial period of shock, awe and angst most of Japan seems to be okay with it – but now the country has more pressing concerns.
The Olympic flame proved a great draw for the public. On March 21, nearly 52,000 people crowded JR Sendai Station in Northeastern Japan to see the flame before the relay, thus spreading Olympic fever — and possibly a nastier kind of fever: Covid-19.
Tokyo lockdown?
Thus far, Japan has been reporting surprisingly low numbers of Covid-19 infections. It has been conducting minimal tests, and has not implemented the kind of lockdowns seen across parts of China, Europe and the United States. Despite school closures and sumo playing to empty stadia, much of the densely populated country has carried on as per normal.
Some observers are unimpressed. In a rather undiplomatic letter to German citizens in Japan posted on the Embassy Of Germany’s web site on March 24, the embassy did not mince words in discussing Japan’s coronavirus handling. “The risk of infection in Japan cannot be assessed seriously. It can be assumed that there are a high number of unreported infections due to the small number of tests carried out.” It also added that tests were only performed, if at all, under stringent conditions.
Now that the Olympic horizon has receded to an uncertain date in 2021, PR pressures on Tokyo City Hall to reassure a worried world may have lifted.
With Tokyoites cavorating en masse under the cherry blossoms, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has taken a harder line than heretofore. Announcing that the disease could be spreading faster than the Olympic torch relay, she is mulling closing down the entire mega-city.
A dress rehearsal was held this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Though there was no actual order for persons to stay inside and police were not detailed to enforce the semi-lockdown, most Tokyoites followed the governor’s advice and stayed behind closed doors. Many – not all – shops and restaurants were closed and the iconic Shibuya crossing was virtually deserted on Saturday evening.
On Monday, things are set to return to normal — with uncertain results — while the country renews its grapple with the ramifications of Olympic postponement.
Japan supports delay
Kyodo News Service conducted a public opinion survey, between March 26th and 28th, publishing the results on Sunday. Some 78.7% of the Japanese public felt postponing the Olympics for a year was appropriate and good; only 11.1% felt it should be postponed for two years. Roughly 6% of the population felt it should be called off, and a mere 1.8% felt it should be held within the year.
Amongst the 1.8% might be Governor Koike.
Though she is now sounding a warning on the virus, on March 12 — the day after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic — she told a gaggle of reporters: “It can’t be said that the announcement of a pandemic would have no impact… But I think cancellation is unthinkable.”
Winners and losers
If you’re an Olympics goods collector or merchandizer, have no fear: Your Tokyo 2020 polo shirt, key chain and souvenir mascot need no re-brands.
In a March 24 teleconference, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach not only agreed to move the Olympics to some time in 2021 but also to keep the name the same: “The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.”
This proved understandably confusing to the general public so the Mainichi Shimbun ran a helpful Q&A for its readers, as follows:
Q: “Why will the Games still be called ‘Tokyo 2020’ if they will be held in 2021?”
A: “Bach approved using the same name for the Games, even if held in 2021. Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, also said: “We have no choice but to think that the Games have been extended [to 2021], but we don’t need to go as far as to changing its impression [by calling it the 2021 Olympics].”
Q: “Why will the postponed Olympics still be called ‘Tokyo 2020?’”
A: “Torches, medals and various other official merchandise have already been made using the name ‘Tokyo 2020.’ If the name changes, it will cause concerns about possible additional costs.”
“Possible additional costs” is an understatement, Fortunately, the move appears to have worked. On Amazon’s Japan website, few items have had their prices marked down, indicating that the paraphernalia market is, indeed, safe.
Most venues planned to be used for the Games in 2020 will still be used in 2021. Even so, some facilities – notably, the Tokyo Olympic Village — are in limbo.
The postponement will delay the handover of the highly-sought after condominiums at the village, originally set aside for athletes’ use in July-August of this year. That leaves the developers and future residents in the lurch; hundreds of the units were to be converted into commercial dwellings after the Olympics ended.
Mitsui Fudosan, one the developers involved in the project, is flummoxed. “We hadn’t factored in a postponement,” the company announced.
And there are other numerous small and big problems to be resolved.
What should be done with the giant clock in the middle of Roppongi Hills counting down the days until the Olympics start? Turn it off? Reset it?
As for people holding hard-won tickets for the Games’ various events, no one knows what will happen to them in the wake of the changed timing.
Athletes, coaches and teams are all in limbo, awaiting a date. What will happen to the various sports’ tournaments that had been scheduled for after the Olympics in 2021? Will athletes have to re-qualify for the Games if too much time passes?
And can athletes in peak form for this year’s Olympics re-peak in 2021? As one Japanese athlete quipped: “Age is the one competitor you can’t defeat.”
The postponement will certainly cost money; it is unclear whether contingency funds of 27 billion yen will be enough. The cost of maintaining facilities and possibly refunding tickets, all have to be considered.
At the end of 2019, organizers estimated the total cost of the 2020 Tokyo Games to be around ¥1.35 trillion ($12.6 billion). However, Japan’s Board of Audit came to a far higher estimate estimate — 3 trillion yen ($27 billion).
The Olympic countdown clock in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills needs a reset. Photo: Jake Adelstein
Silver linings
There are some upsides.
A Tokyo smoking ban that was designed to come in ahead of the Summer Games — prohibiting smoking in restaurants, bars and closed spaces – is still set for implementation on April 1. That’s a gold-medal boon for Tokyoites’ health.
And in 2021, the Tokyo Olympics may not take place during the sweltering Japanese summer, a time when death from heat-stroke is a very real possibility.
It is widely understood that the mid-summer time slot is chosen by the IOC for the benefit of their deep-pocketed media partners, so that the Games do not clash with the European and US autumn sport seasons.
Tokyo made efforts to address the heat issue with an eyebrow-raising statement made during the bid process for the Games. A document submitted by Tokyo to the International Olympic Committee, originally stated: “The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games 16-day competition period will be from Saturday 25 July to Sunday 9 August …with many days of mild and sunny weather, this period provides an ideal climate for athletes to perform at their best.”
The IOC was unimpressed and unilaterally moved the marathon to Northern Japan’s cooler Sapporo — against the shrill protests of Koike.
In 2021, it is possible that the Games will be held at a more seasonally ideal time earlier or later in the year; they took place in October for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan.
Whether the IOC and their moneyed media sponsors would agree is as yet unknown.
Abe’s farewell
Still a handful of newspapers editorials, have already preemptively scolded Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for declaring the Games should take place before summer 2021.
His term as prime minister is expected to end in September of 2021 but, as one paper notes, “Perhaps he does have the ulterior motive of finishing off his final term with a bang — the Games. However, the Olympics are not hosted for the sake of an administration’s legacy.”
Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil announced her retirement from swimming Thursday.
The gold medallist in the women’s 100-metre butterfly at Tokyo’s Summer Games in 2021 made the announcement in an Instagram post alongside a photo of her swimming as a child.
“The little girl above would have never dreamed this is where her love of swimming would take her,” Mac Neil wrote. “I am so grateful for all the memories, people, and places I have gotten to experience just through swimming.
“I’m excited to begin the next chapter of my life journey, as I embark on discovering who I am outside of swimming.”
The 24-year-old from London, Ont., earned a complete set of medals in Tokyo after helping relay teams to silver and bronze medals.
Mac Neil’s five gold medals at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, were the most by a Canadian athlete at a single Pan Am Games.
She was fifth in butterfly and was a member of two women’s relay teams that finished fourth at the recent Olympic Games in Paris.
“Anyone who I crossed paths with never, ever told me I couldn’t achieve my goal of going to the Olympics,” Mac Neil wrote. “It’s still surreal to be able to say I’m a two-time Olympian.”
She completed her master’s degree in sport management at Louisiana State University this year.
Born in China and adopted by Dr. Susan McNair and Dr. Edward MacNeil, Mac Neil’s mother wanted her to take swimming lessons for safety reasons because of the family’s backyard pool.
Mac Neil’s 2017 diagnosis of sport-induced asthma — which can be triggered by the swimming staples of heat and chlorine — forced a switch from longer distances to sprints.
Mac Neil became Canada’s first world champion in the women’s 100-metre butterfly two years later.
The nearsighted Mac Neil, who doesn’t wear contacts or prescription goggles, has seen multiple times a meme of her squinting hard at the scoreboard in Tokyo as she tried to decipher her result.
“I like to think it helps because I can’t see where other people are and I’m able to focus on my own race,” Mac Neil said before the Olympic Games in Paris. “That was definitely the case in Tokyo.
“I got that meme sent to me at least three times in January even though it’s been three years since.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Quarterback Nathan Rourke says the B.C. Lions “have to have a sense of urgency” as they prepare for their final four games of the CFL season.
“There’s a lot of importance in these last four games,” Rourke said after practice this week. “We’ve got to get it going.”
The Lions (7-7) want to get back on track when they face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-9) at B.C. Place Friday night. B.C. is coming off an embarrassing 33-17 loss at home to the Toronto Argonauts two weeks ago that left them in second place in the CFL West.
Across the country, a three-game winning streak has put the Tiger-Cats back in playoff contention in the East.
Defensive back Jamal Peters said the Ticats never stopped believing in themselves, even when they started the season with five losses.
“We kept the faith,” said Peters, who leads the team with four interceptions. “We kept believing in one another and kept working. We knew we wouldn’t ever be out of it.”
The Lions started the campaign 5-1 but are 2-6 in their last eight games. They head into the weekend two points behind the first-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers and one ahead of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
After looking strong in beating Ottawa and Montreal by a combined score of 75-35, the Lions managed just 222 total yards against Toronto. Rourke was pulled after completing six of 12 passes for 110 yards and no touchdowns.
“We’re trying to piece it together ourselves,” Rourke said in trying to explain why the Lions can be ferocious one game, then kittens the next. “At the end of the day it comes down to being able to play a complete game.
“That’s what all the good teams around the league do. They are able to play four quarters and have their offence help their defence.”
Rourke is 2-3 in the five games he has played since returning to the CFL after failing to land a job in the NFL. The Canadian-born quarterback has completed 79 of 126 passes for 1,099 yards, four touchdowns and seven interceptions. In the last two games Rourke has no touchdown passes and has thrown three interceptions.
Coming out of a bye week, Rick Campbell, B.C.’s head coach and co-general manager wanted to stop any talk of a quarterback controversy in Vancouver by saying Rourke remains the Lions starter.
“I don’t want to create any confusion,” said Campbell. “Right now this is what we’re doing. I want there to be clarity and not a debate going on.”
Veteran Vernon Adams Jr. was an early candidate as the league’s outstanding player before sustaining an injury and the return of Rourke. Adams was four of seven for 75 yards, no touchdowns and threw an interception when replacing Rourke against the Argos.
For the season Adams has completed 171 of 266 passes for 2,544 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
“We can win with either one of these guys,” said Campbell. “We’re going to go with the continuity Nathan has been playing with the last several weeks. We think we have room to improve and grow.”
One reason for the Hamilton turnaround has been Chris Jones joining the team as a senior defensive assistant after being fired as Edmonton’s head coach and general manager.
In the 10 games before Jones arrived, Hamilton allowed an average 33.4 points a game and gave up 3.5 touchdowns. In the four he has been a coach, the Ticats have given up 26.5 points a game and allowed 2.25 touchdowns.
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell also leads the CFL with 4,044 passing yards (322 completions on 473 attempts) and 24 touchdowns.
Campbell knows Hamilton comes to the West Coast riding a wave of confidence.
“We always know we’re going to get their best shot,” he said. “Our job it to focus on us and make sure that they get our best shot.
“When they get our best shot, we’re pretty good. We need to direct all our energy and focus on ourselves.”
HAMILTON TIGER CATS (5-9) at B.C. Lions (7-7)
Friday, B.C. Place
ORANGE SHIRT DAY: The Lions celebrate their fourth consecutive Orange Shirt Day Game to pay respect to Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Players will wear special Orange Shirt Day warmup jerseys, which will be raffled off in support of the Orange Shirt Society and Indian Residential Schools Survivors’ Society (IRSSS).
HOMESTREACH: The Lions play three of their final games at home. After Friday they host Calgary Oct. 4 and Montreal Oct. 19 before finishing the season with a bye. B.C.’s lone road game is an Oct. 12 visit to Saskatchewan.
BYE BYE: The Lions are 4-2 in their last six games after a week’s rest.
DOING THE STREAK: Hamilton is looking for it’s first four-game win streak since 2022.
THREE-PEAT: Lions running back William Stanback needs just 41 yards to reach 1,000 for the third time in his career.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: The two teams have split their last six games at B.C. Place, with five of them decided in the final three minutes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Serbia and Albania are set to co-host the men’s Under-21 European Championship in 2027 in a soccer project that aims to overcome political tensions.
UEFA said Thursday only the Serbia-Albania bid met a deadline this week to file detailed tournament plans. Belgium and Turkey had declared interest earlier in the bidding process scheduled to be decided at a Dec. 16 meeting of the UEFA executive committee.
The Serbian and Albanian soccer federations teamed up in May to plan organization of the 16-team tournament played every two years that needs eight stadiums to host 31 games.
Albania soccer federation leader Armand Duka, who is a UEFA vice president, told The Associated Press in May that “it’s a 100% football project” with “a very good political message that we can get across.”
Weeks later at the men’s European Championship held in Germany, historic tensions between the Balkan countries — which in soccer included a notorious drone incident at a Serbia-Albania game in 2014 — played out at separate games involving their senior teams.
An Albania player was banned for games by UEFA for using a megaphone to join fans in nationalist chants, including targeting Serbia, after a Euro 2024 game against Croatia. Fans of Albania and Croatia earlier joined in anti-Serb chants, leading UEFA to impose fines for discrimination.
UEFA also fined both the Albanian and Serbian federations in separate incidents at Euro 2024 for fans displaying politically motivated banners about neighboring Kosovo.
After historic tensions were heightened by the 1990s Balkans conflicts, in 2008 majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo declared independence for the former Serbian province. Serbia refuses to recognize that independence and considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood.
An Albanian fans group daubed red paint on the federation offices in May when the cooperation with Serbian soccer for the Under-21 Euros was announced.
“We did have a few negative reactions from fans, mainly, and some interest groups,” Duka said then, “but not from the Albania government.”
UEFA has shown broad support for Serbia and Albania under its president, Aleksander Ceferin, who is from Slovenia.
The next annual congress of UEFA’s 55 national federations is in the Serbian capital Belgrade on April 3, and an executive committee meeting in September 2025 will be held in Tirana, Albania.
