CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, March 24, 2020

2020 Olympics Latest High-Scale Event To Be Postponed Due To Virus

www.ticketnews.com: “In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.

3 comments:

Natsumi Furo said...

Although this is not surprising, it is still a big news that has a big influence on many people. I was planning to volunteer at the Olympics, but I would probably not be able to do so next year since I have to start job hunting. Many universities had their schedule arranged so that students can enter summer vacation earlier and enjoy the Olympics, but my university just announced today that they would rearrange the schedule back to normal. The change is not only affecting athletes and federations, but almost everyone living around Tokyo. On the other hand, while we are stressed out with all the changes, I am looking forward for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In 1964, we hosted the first Olympics in Asia. This Olympic symbolized Japan’s recovery from the war. In 2020, the pandemic is dragging the world into a depression. I hope that the next Olympics would be the symbol for all of us.

Elinore Tolman said...

Another predictable, but still heartbreaking postponement due to the coronavirus. It would have been a terrible look to keep them going because literally the entire world meets up to watch and compete, which would basically be a buffet for the coronavirus. But to think about how hard the athletes train for four years and mentally prepare for such a large competition, only to have to wait even longer for the ceremony is disappointing. Commercial success is lost and tradition is interrupted for this virus. It is so infuriating to see the coronavirus have such a strong impact on the function of people’s lives and income. It is scary, but smart decisions are being made to keep people safe. It needs to keep happening to save people’s lives and once it is all over, the Olympics will feel like a large celebration ceremony for what we were able to overcome together.

Allison Gerecke said...

This is yet another frustrating example of the effect this virus is having on the world and people’s lives, forcing us to make hard decisions about the cancellation of major events. From a health and safety perspective, this is obviously the correct decision, as the absolute last thing we need this summer is people from every country in the world gathering together for weeks and then dispersing again, and I can’t even imagine what kind of safety measures would be required to hold the Olympics as planned. But I’m also sure this is devastating to the athletes who have been training their entire lives for this event; for some, in events like gymnastics with a tiny age window of peak competition, this was their one chance. I’ve heard online from some people who were supposed to be attending the Trials or competing before it got postponed, but they are now unable to go to the gym or pool or use their various training facilities, meaning that even if it were to proceed as planned, their performance levels would be far under what they should have been due to lost training time. The whole virus situation is so frustrating because it’s not anyone’s fault, and the decisions being made are very necessary, but it’s also having such a negative impact on everyone in basically every field.