No Spectators at Tokyo Olympics Originally scheduled for July 24 to August 9 of 2020, the Tokyo Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, were rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than being cancelled, this is the first time that the Olympic games have been postponed and rescheduled. Set to take place from July 23 to August 8 this year, the games will still take place, despite Tokyo declaring a state of emergency due to a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. The Olympic games will keep the Tokyo 2020 name for marketing purposes but will be held without spectators. The announcement was made after a meeting of a meeting took place between the Japanese Olympic Committee and government groups in charge of the games. According to an International Olympic Committee spokesman, this is an unprecedented situation not to have specators. There is really “no choice but to hold the Games in a limited way”, according to Seiko Hashimoto of the Japanese Olympic Committee. Of the 42 venues listed for the games, 25 of them are in Tokyo. Three locations near Tokyo (Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama) will have no spectators, while Miyagi, Fukushima, and Shizuoka will have venues that can be filled to half capacity, topping out at 10,000. Members of the IOC and NOC are not going to be counted as spectators and will have access to the venues, so long as they have accreditation. As for admission of stakeholders to the venues, the organizers of the games will make a decision during the Opening Ceremony on July 23. The new state of emergency for Tokyo will go from July 12 through August 22, encompassing the entire duration of the Olympic Games. Tokyo reported 920 new cases on July 7, which is the highest total since the middle of May, prompting the state of emergency. The biggest issue is the more infectious Delta variant, which has accounted for up to 30 percent of all the new cases. Just last month, Olympic organizers agreed that spectators would be allowed at all venues, with the exception of oversea fans, which were banned already back in March. Many athletes are sad at the decision since top notch athletes often thrive on performing in front of large crowds, feeding off their energy. Tokyo previously lifted its state of emergency on June 20, at the end of the fourth wave of cases in Japan. There have been other restrictions, such as curfew on dine-in at restaurants. One of the biggest issues in Japan is the low 15 percent vaccination rate compared to nearly half of the population in the United States and the UK being fully vaccinated. While the idea of having no spectators to witness the greatest athletes in the world perform on the biggest stage, at least there will be Olympics this year. All in all, that’s something to be thankful for during this increasing difficult time.
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