What time did you wake up this morning?
I am usually woken up in the 6 am hour by my dog Sully. I like to be in my office by 7 am, and since I work from home, that means rolling out of bed at 6:59:45. Sometimes, when making that long commute up the stairs, my mind wanders to the people training for the Olympics. They’ve been up for hours when I sleepily make my tea and toast.
For years, fencers and swimmers and handball players and wrestlers and gymnasts have been getting up early, training, eating much healthier than you or I ever have. They’ve had the summer of 2020 circled on every calendar they have owned. They have missed weddings and funerals and that one night when everyone sang Celine Dion at karaoke and was so wasted. Every sacrifice was taken in stride, though, because of their Olympic goal. But now, their daily routines also include checking the latest news on the coronavirus.
The coronavirus is, quite frankly, scaring the crap out of everyone. Japan already has canceled events because of fears over the disease. With so many people headed to Tokyo for the Olympics in July, fears about the Olympics were already starting to swirl. Dick Pound, the IOC member the internet giggles at every few years, voiced those fears on Tuesday. Pound said the IOC would need to make a decision by May, and considering the huge logistical concerns around the Olympics, the decision would be to cancel or not. Moving or postponing the Olympics would not be likely.
The head of the Tokyo organizing committee said the plan for now is to continue, but …
“Our basic thoughts are that we will go ahead with the Olympic and Paralympic Games as scheduled,” Muto said, speaking in Japanese. “For the time being, the situation of the coronavirus infection is, admittedly, difficult to predict, but we will take measures such that we’ll have a safe Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
In the run-up to nearly every Olympics Games, there’s usually someone calling to cancel the event. Sometimes it’s a concern about terrorism, about a nearby war, or facilities not be done in time. (Note, this is not the same as people who think the Olympics should not happen at all because of how it tends to run over the people are on the margins of society. We will talk about those valid concerns in a future newsletter, I promise.)
The Olympics are a giant, multi-billion dollar organization supported by some of the most powerful people and companies on this planet. The modern-day Olympics, the ones with Visa and Coca-Cola logos plastered everywhere, the Olympics with an IOC filled with actual royalty, don’t just get canceled.
But when some of those actual all-powerful IOC members actually admit that the spread of the coronavirus might actually cancel the Games, I take notice. Other Olympic adjacent events have already been canceled. The International Skating Union canceled the short track world championships scheduled for Seoul in mid-March because the South Korean government ordered the rink closed. Ireland and Italy’s Six Nations rugby game has been postponed. The Tokyo Marathon was limited to just elite runners and wheelchair marathoners.
What could end up happening with the Tokyo Olympics could be more of a de facto cancellation. If no airlines will fly to Japan, if no volunteers will show up, if no hotels are open, if no bus drivers ferry around the athletes and media, can the Olympics really happen?
This is what the IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee needs to figure out, as the rest of the world tries to figure out how to stop a virus that is spreading and taking out innocent victims. My mind continues to wander to those people who are woke up before this email was sent out, and have dreams bigger than making the perfect toast. What I truly hope is that by May we have eradicated this disease and look back at these discussions and just make another Dick Pound joke.
More Olympic Stuff to peruse
Flo-Jo was an Olympian who taught every generation after her that it was not just OK, but profitable, to be themselves. I really enjoyed this look at her life, impact on running and even on the Indiana Pacers uniforms from Amira Rose Davis.
The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials are this weekend. Take a look at how hard the course is here, and Chris Chavez’ excellent look at Bernard Lagat making one more Olympic push here.
Chris Knierim and Alexa Knierim are that adorable married skating pair who helped the U.S. figure skating team win bronze in 2018, but their on-ice partnership is no more. After many injuries, Chris announced his retirement just weeks before the world championship. Alexa will look for a new partner. Their off-ice partnership is just fine, though.
Parting Shot
This is my dog Sully. He says hi.