By Rahul Arora ‘23, Sports Writer

During the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe emerged as Super Mario. Japan made a special impression gathering excitement for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Although many had concerns about the Olympics being held in Japan because Japan has a high risk for earthquakes and inclement weather, nobody expected a virus to be the demise of the 2020 Olympics.

On Tuesday, March 24, the former Japanese prime minister and the Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, announced that the Olympics would be postponed until 2021. Never before had the Olympic Games been postponed or canceled for something other than war. Currently, the 2020 Olympics are scheduled to begin on Friday, July 23, 2021, but as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, concerns are growing about the Summer Olympics.

In March, many Olympic athletes expressed their frustration over the postponement of the games, but they acknowledged that the pandemic was a bigger problem than the Olympics. Athletes spend years training for the Olympic games and their hard work is displayed to the entire world in a span of 16 days – many for only a mere couple of minutes. The postponement of such a big event has a large effect on the athletes and their careers.

Recently, Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga said in his New Year’s message that the Olympic games, “symbolize the unity of the world” and that the necessary precautions will be taken to have a safe and secure environment. The Olympics are also a means for Japan to display its culture and advancements. Due to the pandemic, the Olympics have been labeled as “the games that conquered Covid,” which is reminiscent of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics which was a turning point for the nation after World War II. Delaying the event once more doesn’t seem to be likely, but Tokyo 2020 president Mori said that the difficult decision would be made sometime from February to March. Many speculate that Japan will not allow any foreign spectators to watch the games live, but the growing concern is that countries will pull out their teams from the games as they did back in 2020. Beginning with Canada and Australia, countries started pulling out from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics over health concerns for their teams. 

Now to the big question, what will the Tokyo 2020 Olympics look like? We can’t tell you for sure whether the games will or will not happen in 2021, but there will definitely be changes. Many can tell you that they watch the Olympics at home with their families, and this will definitely be the most popular option, but those who planned to attend the Olympics in person will not be able to do so. To crackdown on the amount of covid cases, only competitors will be allowed. Hopefully, the Olympics will take place this summer, but all we can do for now is hope.