The Summer Olympics stealing the spotlight for the eye-gazers has reflected its plurality and its historic admiration. However, this year’s Tokyo Olympics, commencing from Friday, was seen as a rejuvenating and conceding shining light amidst the harsh circumstances faced by the public during the pandemic.
The magnitude of the glorious sporting event has reverberated as the long-awaited enticing screening everyone has their eyes set on. Historically, the five rings in the Tokyo Olympics aphorism represent the five continents of the world participating at the time of its inception in 1915. But thousands of travellers from the futuristic cities resonate with the symbol as a personification for the hop and jump of hurdles and obstruction they have to face to reach Tokyo.
The Games are welcoming more than 11,500 athletes, 79,500 officials, support staff and journalists to the enchanting capital of Japan. Amidst the steeping surge of infections across Asian countries, spectators are strictly prohibited. The spectator’s eyes would be engrossed on their televisions’ as the broadcasters redefine the mesmerizing sports event after a year of perturbations and stressful times. Nevertheless, the roadblocks of Covid-19 amidst the spiking infections in Asia has forwarded some arguable questions on the Tokyo Olympics 2021. Should the games proceed fully-fledged?
The world is consciously awaiting cheerful and eventful cynosure amidst being Covid-fatigued. However, is it too far a risk continuing with the Olympics? Well, Probably not! The innuendo of cancelling the captivating games was visible via a petition started on change.org by Kenji Utsunomiya. The concern of prioritizing lives over the entrancement of sports garnered in the signatures of approximately 458,000 people who sought to cancel it. The storyline is not contrasting in distinctive areas of Japan as 6,000 doctors representing the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association have claimed aggressively for the games to be postponed.
Do Japan’s progressive infections pose a threat to the Tokyo Olympics 2021?
The pandemic’s stringent surge in Japan is circulating doubts across continents regarding the resumption of the Tokyo Olympics 2021. Over the past four weeks, infections in Japan have advent a steeping rise creating havoc across hospitals with the pertinent possibility of yet another wave. The average daily infections recorded on June 2021 showed only glimpses of what’s surfacing next for Japan. A month later, it doubled, reaching 3,116; 48 per cent of the highest average daily count since the coronavirus was unleashed.
The fourth progressive wave across Japan is considered transmitting at a spiralling level, with Delta variant cases contracted in large numbers. The situation is contrasting to the previous three infection waves experienced by Japan. Initially, the zenith of the fourth wave oversaw only 3 per cent of the population getting infected by the Delta variant, while others mainly confided to the Alpha variant. Between June 12 and June 28, infections were revoked, and the frequency has increased to 50 per cent over the past month.
Practically, the Covid-19 wave across Asia is escalating rampantly, and athletes travelling from various continents would substantially mean elevating the risk of protocols lineage and a flurry of spiking infections. While a handful of sporting committees are submitting their concerning perspective to the Tokyo Olympic’s host nation, others resort to the prestigious honour of representing their country on the pinnacle sporting stage. The selection in this regard has bestowed a lifetime opportunity for athletes; is it monumental despite the inveigling threat on human life.
How is the Nervousness Behind Covid-19 test Reports Signifies the Peculiarity of Olympics 2021?
Evidently, we haven’t seen such nervous signs of athletes before going into the Olympics. The pandemic has changed the atmospheric vibe across the palladium, and nothing seems worthwhile momentarily. The distressing visuals were all over, reflecting the anxiety levels of thousands waiting perniciously at the Haneda Airport for their test reports. Herded in the vast space, athletes, journalists, coaches, umpires and broadcasters aligned with different nationalists were unified through their cautiousness.
The Olympics hadn’t even instituted its foothold, and yet dreams of two athletes are being subsided heartbroken. Dutch Surfboarder and Chilean taekwondo players’ positive Covid-19 reports at their inception point in Narita’s airport have proclaimed alarming shockwaves. Their achievement pipedream was soon over before they made their mark. How bizarrely the pandemic’s toll has underlined us into its grasp is explicitly exhibited at the Olympics.
The positivity has evaded, and the tables turned to nervousness, hesitation, among factors of opting out of the glorious entourage. Athletes await consciously to the crucial make-or-break moment of their sporting careers, where one positive Covid-19 result could snatch their dreams in a nutshell. Perhaps, they would be identical to us, supporting their nation by watching through the Japanese quarantine facility. The swirling problems wouldn’t end after all; a next-step-up challenge awaits the athletes procuring negative results.
Olympics Doesn’t Seem Enticing this year; How has the Biggest Sporting Event Persuading the Uncertainty?
Since the most extensive sporting event witnesses the glamorous athletes competing against each other ferociously, the Olympics has made its mark as the comprehensive broadcasted event. Unfortunately, the vibe is grim in Tokyo this year. Athletes have propagated the flight paths to Japan as volunteers greet them to the ground of inescapability. Apart from the inaugural excitement and the designation of priority lanes for the Games vehicles, there’s hardly any compelling manifestation that the historically esteemed event is underway in the forthcoming 48 hours. The uncertainty persuading the organizers is followed by the sudden overflow of infections across Olympic delegates since July.
Reaching to Tokyo; An Uphill Task Remnant of Participating in the Olympics sport-
The vigilant authorities are likely subsuming the alleged reports of last-minute cancellation of the games. It might turn an honouring visit into a disappointing bogey for the nationalities involved. We don’t know the hard-headed protocols that were being followed by athletes months before the cauldron is unleashing. Boarding the flight was the last stage of concluding the perplexing annexure presented by the organizers. Reaching Tokyo in itself was like manoeuvring the sport caveat to perfection, as bulks of directives were mandated, followed by the elongated procedure of scheduling Covid-19 tests regularly.
Finishing tons of paperwork resembled giving higher-qualification exams, as formalities infringed the morale of the coaches and athletes onboarding the flight. In fact, the flights were highly monitored by the Japanese government as Tokyo-orientated flights were allowed to onboard 40 passengers per flight, and with athletes’ proportion exceeding the limit, it wasn’t simply hopping, skip and jump to another flight. Travelling plans suffered, contributing to the affliction faced by the countries even before they signify their presence on the scintillating grandeur.
Is the Catastrophic Covid-19 Scare Going to Diminish the Engagement of the Innovative Games?
The fretful hypothesis of Covid-19 will be running through the minds of the athletes and coaches. Alongside, the bubble could get tightly restricted, affecting players’ mental state before they unleash their potential. How often we have reiterated the term bubble in sporting events following the pandemic. Players have got frustrated due to the bubble-fatigue in instances; the motivational quotient has swayed from them. The ultimate focus is shifting from performing in the games and stressing on following the Covid-19 protocols. The vast majority fears the reality: Olympic Sport will not look like an enchanting sporting event this year.
Despite the Tokyo authorities ensuring a feasible and innovative alienation of games from the public, the threats have already envisaged various countries. It’s kosher that as the Olympics might underline series of infections, athletes might propel themselves out of the disastrous flurry. It raises the defining question of all: Can the Games be postponed irrespective of the costs involved? Well, The last-minute cancellation would render hearts into dismay, but the cost of living is of way more significance than the erstwhile fame.
