Is it wise to go ahead with the Olympics?

Aepgirl you are wrong. It is because it is on a professional footing that it is much more equal. Back in the days when it pretended to be amateur - there were several countries which happily got round that ruling. USA just joined all their elite athletes upto College courses and made them 'students', whilst continuing full time training. USSR and other easter block countries joined all their elite athletes to their armed services and continued their full time training.

UK did not do any of this resulting in many of their Olympic athletes having to go on to welfare benefits in order to be able to any training - not helpful if they also had families to support. In 1996 at Atlanta, some of the UK Olympians were selling off their tracksuits, etc in order to try to raise cash for their families at home. UK came 34th in the medal table then with just one gold medal.

Fortunately, the lottery grants brought this to an end (largely) in UK and many of our top elite athletes have had access to funding so they compete on the world stage and be trained properly and also have the back-up medical and psychological support.

This funding depends on them bringing home medals at the Olympics. No medal, no future funding is often the case.

I have never been an elite athlete of any sort, or even close to it - however, I have known many in several sports. Particularly in two in which I have had a long-time involvement. These people dedicate their lives to their sport and no Olympics - for any reason - often causes very long-term damage to their mental health

I agree with Rosie push them all back one as the next in line may well have plans but not yet executed them.
Looking at the worldwide picture not that great a percentage have been vaccinated so there is great danger of a big spread and mutations.

But....even though spectators won't be allowed, in Tokyo at least, tens of thousands of locals will have to work on site to organise the events, service accommodation, prepare food, etc, and presumably they will be travelling in and out of the sites. They haven't even vaccinated all over 65s yet, in Tokyo or Osaka.

If this was Europe, with our high vaccination rates, I'd be hoping the Olympics would go ahead, subject to a lot of extra precautions. But with only 15% of the Japanese population now double-vaccinated, this seems reckless.

Now going to be behind closed doors thank goodness. What a strange Olympics it will be.

That's the point though Olive the majority of the Japanese population has not yet been vaccinated.

They must be mad to even think about going ahead.
I do feel for the athletes who have been training so hard but better to be safe than sorry.
I wouldn't want to watch it either. It is bound to be a lack lustre affair.

I’m a huge fan of the Olympic Games and had Japan got its act together re vaccinations, would have wanted it to go ahead with particular precautions in place.

But the vaccine roll out has been appalling and the local population are far too vulnerable. We have Japanese friends who tell us that their city administration has proudly announced that all citizens 82 and over have now been vaccinated. In mid May notices went up that over 70s could apply for vaccination. The booking line opened at midnight and ten minutes later all appointments had gone - they don’t know anyone who managed to get one. Apparently there will be more vaccines arriving in mid June....

It’s incomprehensible that a country that can rebuild a flood damaged bridge in a week instead of the 12 months it took in this area has got the vaccine programme so wrong, but the risks to the population out there are too high to be discounted.

A massive dilema but , cancel !!!!

Put them off for a year or even 2 when we know that the vaccine works and everyone has had a chance to be vaccinated.

No. I very much enjoy the Olympics but there is still too much danger. Very sad but no.

In March 2020, the Government allowed Crufts and the Cheltenham Gold Cup to go ahead, allowing thousands of people to arrive here from all over the world. Even more foolhardy, they also allowed the Liverpool v Madrid football match to go ahead despite Madrid being full of Covid cases. We all know what happened after these three large events took place.
It seems Japan is in a similar situation atm, with only a small proportion of Japanese being vaccinated. It seems very foolhardy to go ahead with the games, although hopefully far more precautions are in place in Japan than were in place at Crufts, Cheltenham and the Liverpool football game.
I’m just glad I don’t have to make such a decision about cancelling the whole show, nor travel to Tokyo to take part.

Absolutely not. IMHO anyone, athlete or spectator, who attends is out of their tiny mind.

No is the short answer.Asking for trouble as it will mutate and spread all over the world again.

Of course it's wrong to go ahead with the Olympics on all levels. We are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Japan is especially hard hit at the moment. All those people travelling in and out of countries will only spread it further. It's ridiculous not to put if off for another year. Let's be realistic.

A definite No from me!

Wimbledon is going ahead so why should the Olympics be cancelled. I love watching them, and since a great many athletes have trained for years it will be the last chance for some of them. They will all have been vaccinated. We must learn to live with the virus so let's get back to normal.

Of course they should go ahead. As most of us have had the vaccine and it’s supposedly the best thing since sliced bread, what is the problem
We need to get back to normal ASAP imo. Some people will still be wearing the mask in ten years time because they’re frightened of the virus. The same people no doubt that wear them whilst in the car when on their own, or walking down the street on their own!!!!!

No, I think they shouldn't go ahead.
Clearly very disappointing for the athletes, especially those close to retirement, but it could lead to another dreadful surge of illness - particularly as there will be people from all over the world there, mixing their various mutations of the disease.

Definitely, there should not be the Olympics this year - far too early and not many Japanese have been vaccinated yet either.

NO

Harmonypuss

The Olympic Committee need to say "right, 2020 Games has been postponed but in light of the issues in Japan they will now be cancelled completely, we'll look forward to 2024 but Japan should be allocated the next available one on the list".
Simple!

I agree in part. Cancel the 2020 games entirely, but let Japan have the 2024 games instead. Their stadia are built, huge sums of money have been invested and they'd be up and running with no last minute panics. Then push all the others forward by one games. I don't expect Paris have done much in the way of games preparation yet given the Corona virus presence. Much fairer than making Japan wait until 2032, as Los Angeles has been allocated 2028.

No, more things to worry about than if someone can jump further than someone else. Bothered, no sorry, I'm not.

The Olympic Committee need to say "right, 2020 Games has been postponed but in light of the issues in Japan they will now be cancelled completely, we'll look forward to 2024 but Japan should be allocated the next available one on the list".
Simple!

NO, and NO again. Sheer madness for all the above reasons given. Could this be Japan not wanting to lose face as per its culture?

Franbern, this is a very elite athletes POV, and good for you being one of them. However there are many, many other atheletes, professional or amateur, worldwide who have had to put up with drastic reductions in their sports with attendant consequences. Why should Olympians be treated as special.

Apart from sports people what about other professions or hobbies such as the entertainment industry, they too have had to get on with it. Even this week a Westend play was cancelled seconds before its first curtain call in months because one member of the company got a text to say that someone they had been in contact with had tested positive. The company and audience all had to go home. The whole company was tested and all were negative, but appropriate precautions had been taken and it must have been hugely disappointing for all. Most walks of life have suffered economic problems, it's once of the consequences of this virus.

Surely the IOC and Japanese government have a duty to the Japanese population, most of whom have not been vaccinated, to safeguard them. It has been proved time and again in the last 18 months that this virulent virus slips through the net, mutates and heaven knows what else.

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Cannot understand why the Games are being allowed. All the advice issued to us not to travel to amber rated countries yet athletes and their entourages are being allowed to go to a country in the midst of a 4th outbreak and very little vaccination.