Bach Against the Wall: Where next for Tokyo 2020?
Opinion -Each week beIN SPORTS presenter Aarran Summers will be offering his view on one of sports biggest issues. This week he takes a look at Tokyo 2020 and the fate of the IOC
Travelling on the high-speed train from Suzuka to Osaka after watching the Japanese Grand Prix, I looked out the window. I thought to myself, what an incredible Olympic Games we will witness in Tokyo; what could possibly go wrong? Even the passing of Typhoon Phanfone did little to dampen my hopes. That was 2014, a year after the capital was awarded the right to host the games.
As a nation that is buffeted by earthquakes and severe weather, Japan is well equipped to deal with natural disasters. Perhaps there was a feeling that the country could deal with Coronavirus.
We may still be heading to Tokyo if countries like Canada and Australia had not dropped out. The Australian chief, John Coates, is a good friend of Bach. Perhaps the IOC or Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, was waiting for someone to move first in the long game of chess between the two.
A bit of dithering and a teleconference later, Bach had made his move. A tentative move. Abe followed that with his own checkmate-saving face move. The games were postponed – a debacle that had gone on for too long.
Marathon champion, Eliud Kipchoge, best placed to comment on the decision: ‘’A wise one,’’ he called it. For me, you could not argue with the decision.
For some of the 11,000 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympians, there will be no 2021 games. Athletes may not be in form, and some might be kicked out to make way.
It is a dreadful and highly competitive business, with blood, sweat, and tears to no avail. What about the financial implications? According to local organisers, $12.6 billion has already been spent on the games. A report last December doubled the cost.
Add to that an estimated postponement cost of up to $3 billion, and it is the stuff of nightmares for Tokyo’s Olympics chief, Toshiro Mito. He said last week that expenses were going to be "massive."
Has the IOC got off lightly? Quite simply, no. The damage to Bach and the organisation is enormous. They will survive as long as they make those around them content – by that, I mean the broadcasters and sponsors who make up the vast majority of their income.
Moreover, once Japan is over the Olympics, we head west to Beijing for the 2022 winter games. Eight years of competition has already been signed up. They will move on, however, Japan may face the crippling cost for years to come. So much for sporting legacy.
Let us not forget the whole point of why we are here – the Coronavirus. People are dying around the world. There is, quite simply, more to life than an Olympics games. When it does happen, it will be a spectacle. As British athlete, Katarina Johnson-Thompson said, ‘’I’ve waited eight years for this; what’s another one in the grand scheme of things?’’
One word I learned in Japan during my Formula 1 days is Shoganai – a literal translation of it can’t be helped. Johnson-Thompson will compete in Tokyo; she will probably win gold. Others will not. It is the grim reality of the impact of Coronavirus.
The sport is damaged; Japan has suffered significant losses due to the postponement, and who is to say that it will not happen again in 2021? These are worrying times for Japan. The country cannot afford another delay. Bach and his friends from the IOC may have their backs against the wall, but they are safe for now.