Tokyo Summer Olympics Success or Failure

As coronavirus swept the globe last spring, Japan portrayed the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics until this summer as an opportunity as well as a necessity. The delayed Games would be the light at the end of the tunnel; a celebration of humanity’s victory over Covid-19. But there may well be other reasons to wish for the summer Olympics some might be economic some other may well be contractual. There is certainty a difference in what people of the globe think about the upcoming Tokyo Summer Olympics versus what the people of the hosting country or for that matter the people who live in Tokyo think. One thing is certain they would need to decide whether few or many lives (we just do not know how many) that will be lost due to the Olympics is an acceptable cost...

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The Olympics are approaching amid a resurgence of the virus and the opposition of the vast majority of the host nation. Grumbles are a familiar part of the Games cycle, dispelled as momentum builds in the final weeks. But the current concerns go far beyond the usual worries about slow ticket sales or uncompleted venues. Tokyo’s governor said that she would ask the central government to impose new measures urgently, while Osaka, which saw a record high in cases for few weeks now, has already adopted strict new rules: its stretch of the torch relay will take place behind the closed gates of a park. More infectious strains are gaining ground, while the country’s vaccination program is barely off the ground. The international picture is much grimmer. Brazil is recording more than 4,000 deaths a day, and India recorded more than 125,000 new cases last Wednesday alone. Should we really have the Olympics?

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