Okay, there’s no way to do this without breaking out into giggles so let’s just stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point: International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound says the Tokyo Olympics could be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The GOAT team go through the biggest talking points about the coronavirus on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
According to AP, Dick Pound says Tokyo Olympic organisers had better think long and hard about how they’re handling the coronavirus outbreak or the committee will likely cancel the event altogether rather than postpone or move it.
The (ahem) longest-standing member of the IOC estimates that there will be a two or three-month window in deciding whether the Tokyo Olympics will be cancelled or not, saying:
“In and around that time, I’d say folks are going to have to ask: ‘Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo or not?’
“A lot of things have to start happening. You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels. The media folks will be in there building their studios.”
Being a former professional swimmer, it’s clear that Dick Pound isn’t trying to shaft the Tokyo Olympics, he’s merely erecting genuine concerns over the safety of all the athletes and those attending.
While the truth about the coronavirus spreading is a lot to swallow, Dick Pound sounds pretty optimistic that the Tokyo Olympics will continue as normal (for now) and encouraged the 11,000 or so athletes attending to keep training.
As for why the IOC doesn’t just postpone the Tokyo Olympics, Dick Pound says pulling out isn’t an option and nailed that argument right away by saying, “You just don’t postpone something on the size and scale of the Olympics. There’s so many moving parts, so many countries and different seasons, and competitive seasons, and television seasons. You can’t just say, ‘We’ll do it in October.'”
Dick Pound then laid down the hammer hard on why a one-year delay isn’t possibility, saying that Japan is spending a whopping $19 billion to host the Tokyo Olympics and expect to have a good time rather than a premature cancellation.
Ultimately, the fate of the Tokyo Olympics is out of Dick Pound and the IOC’s hands as it all depends on the course the coronavirus takes, so there’s only so much fluffing that can be done at the moment.
Aaaaand breathe. We managed to get through this Dick Pound/Tokyo Olympics/coronavirus story without too much trouble. See, that wasn’t so hard was it?
Always be in the loop with our snackable podcast breaking the biggest story of the day. Subscribe to It’s Been A Big Day For… on your favourite podcast app.