Battered by the pandemic, it's game time for 'most complex' Olympics in history

Singapore

THE Summer Olympics - the largest multi-sport event in the world - are meant to unite and inspire countries and athletes, but the once-delayed Covid-hit Tokyo edition has clearly struggled on that front.

It speaks volumes for the fact that, even in the days leading up to the opening ceremony on Friday night, there was still plenty of chatter about whether the quadrennial Olympics - already postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic - should be delayed again or cancelled altogether.

Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), recently described this year's Games - which run from July 23 to Aug 8 - as "by far the most complex and most difficult ever".

As at Thursday, 87 Olympic-related personnel, including athletes, have tested positive for Covid-19, resulting in athlete withdrawals and forcing teammates to go into self-isolation.

Only a third of Japanese have had at least one dose of the vaccine, with mounting concerns that the Olympics could turn into a global super-spreader event.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

With the Japanese capital deep into its fourth state of emergency due to rising numbers of infections, organisers announced earlier this month that fans will be barred from all Tokyo venues due to a resurgence of the virus outbreak.

Even before the first medals are handed out, the Tokyo Games already have the unwanted distinction of being the first Olympics in history, modern or ancient, to take place almost entirely without spectators.

The National Stadium - built at a reported cost of 157 billion yen (S$1.94 billion) as the Games' main venue - can accommodate 68,000 people, but the stands and suites will be mostly empty except for about a thousand officials, media and VIPs for Friday's scaled-down opening ceremony (7pm start, Singapore time).

Japan's Emperor Naruhito will be there, as will Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Among the dozen or so foreign dignitaries present will be French President Emmanuel Macron, US First Lady Jill Biden and World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The chiefs of many of Japan's long-standing Olympic sponsors - including Toyota, Panasonic, Bridgestone, Fujitsu and NEC - are skipping the opening ceremony, with some cutting back on their advertising plans for the 16-day event.

Due to coronavirus restrictions which bar athletes from staying in Japan for the duration of the Games, only a fraction of the 11,000 athletes from 205 national Olympic committees will be present for the traditional team parade into the stadium during the three-hour opening gala.

There won't be any mass choreography, fancy props or colourful bright lights that are the norm for this curtain-raiser, although the ceremony's producers have promised to stage a meaningful show that puts the spotlight on the athletes.

It will be a sobering and quiet start to the global sporting spectacle that has seen its budget soar to an estimated US$15.4 billion, more than twice the US$7.5 billion amount that Japan stated when it won the hosting rights back in 2013.

The final cost could even be higher, with some initial audits by the Japanese government pinning the figure at more than US$25 billion.

Imagine Singapore's champion swimmer Joseph Schooling retaining his gold medal in the 100-metre butterfly final, or Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic adding Olympic gold to his three Grand Slam titles this year - but with barely a soul present at the stadiums or venues to witness those accomplishments in the flesh.

While that is a big blow for both the fans and the athletes, to not get to celebrate such achievements in front of a full house, there is at least one consolation as the Tokyo Games are on track to be the most-watched Olympics of all time, with an estimated global audience of up to five billion people.

Olympic Broadcasting Services, which produces the live TV, radio and digital coverage of the Games, will produce over 9,000 hours of content, 30 per cent more than the Rio Games in 2016.

The Tokyo Olympics may be starting a full 12 months later than planned, and it's been a Herculean effort for the IOC and the Japanese government to make it this far.

While it is inevitable that the Covid-19 virus will rear its ugly head throughout the 16 days of competition, all that's left to do now is to watch the Olympic flame being lit, and for the athletes to reap the fruits of their years of sacrifice and perform on the biggest stage of their lives.