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Every four years, the people of the world gather together to witness some of the greatest feats of athletic prowess in one magical event: the Summer Olympics. This prestigious international event began in Athens, Greece in 1896, and has since grown to involve 207 countries and 11,238 participants competing in 306 events(as of 2016). Unfortunately, the recent pandemic has forced the Olympic committee to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As of now, the International Olympic Committee has made the difficult decision to hold the games this year in July. This proposition drew a lot of criticism over the possible health concerns and left many to wonder if the Olympics are worth all of this risk.
Pros:
Even though the Olympics is essentially a sporting event for entertainment, it still provides a lot of tangible and important benefits to all parties involved. This competition has had a long history of strengthening international relations through peaceful relations and is a very important tradition. Through the power of sport, the International Olympic Committee helped to ease tensions between conflicting countries like China and Taiwan, Israel and Palestine, and South Korea and North Korea. The organization even created a Refugee Olympic Team to show support for the ongoing international refugee crisis. The unity, hope, and enjoyment that the Olympic games create makes the event very popular: the 2016 Summer Olympics garnered 3.6 billion views worldwide. In addition, the Olympics are important for national pride. The host country gets a chance to showcase its culture, tradition, and societal advances to a wide international audience. Competing athletes get the chance to demonstrate their countries’ merit in different sports and audience members feel immense patriotism from watching their fellow countrymen compete. A BBC Global Poll from 2012 shows that most from the 18 out of 21 countries surveyed claimed that the way that their team competes matters a lot to their national pride. Overall, the Olympic games help to create a sense of unity and solidarity among people from across the world.
There are also many financial benefits to the Olympic games. The sports and sportswear industries benefit tremendously by sponsoring these incredible athletes, and the athletes get a huge boost to their careers. The host country also experiences significant improvement. A study done by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research showed that “hosting Summer Olympics boosts regional GDP per capita by about 3 to 4 percentage points relative to the national level in the year of the event and the year before.” The Beijing Olympics in 2008 led to the creation of a new airport terminal, highways, subway lines, and several iconic sports stadiums. Preparation for the games also benefits the host of the games. The government and the citizens want the world to see their country at its best, which leads to major improvements. For example, China showed its commitment to green energy by removing thousands of coal-burning boilers in Beijing and vastly increasing solar and natural gas usage. These improvements will benefit citizens for many years to come.
Cons:
Although the Olympics provide traditional value, fundraising opportunities, and significant revenue, having a full-blown international event certainly presents some red flags due to the current pandemic. The CDC COVID-19 guidelines strongly insist that travel to Japan should be avoided at all costs. In addition, any tourists are told to maintain a 6 feet distance from others, wear masks in any shared location, and avoid touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. Though these rules seem easy enough to follow with a small group, flooding the country with Olympic competitors and their fans will certainly not help the situation(around 500,000 spectators came to Brazil for the 2016 Olympics). Given this figure, it would be unreasonable to assume that all these tourists will adequately follow the CDC guidelines. The second point of concern involves the second wave of COVID-19. For example, in the past month, COVID-19 cases in Africa have jumped 18%, with Nigeria reporting 1,664 cases on January 6th alone. With the Olympics drawing hundreds of visitors from countries across the world, the second wave is bound to affect Japan. However, nothing about the Olympics in Japan is black and white, every COVID-19 case is tragic and is always a concern in any given situation. The decision being made is an immensely difficult one and is being carefully considered by many around the globe. But though the flouting of restrictions and the new wave of COVID-19 can be ominous, there is hope for a safe event that will bring forth cultural pride and honor into the coming new year.
The Verdict:
In these uncertain times where COVID-19 threatens everyone’s daily lives, the Olympics are needed more than ever. Society must hold fast to what unites and brings everyone together and there is no better way than through the Olympics. The 2021 Olympics must continue because its benefits to the world are too great to simply pass over and even for its downfalls, there are solutions at hand. Since the COVID-19 vaccine has just been released, the Olympics organizers could require any athlete competing in the Olympics to take the vaccine. The athletes would not be forced to take this vaccine— if they were unwilling then they would not participate in the Olympics. Some may claim that this is unfair to the athletes, but in the end, lives matter far more than medals. Also, though it may not seem this way, there is great hope for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics— all one has to do is remember the history of the Olympics. In the 1952 Olympics, the Cold War was reaching its height, but the Soviet Union and the United States still competed in the Olympics. If they could compete through the possible threat of nuclear war, we can stand together in unity and say “Citius, Altius, Fortius.”
This past year has been an extremely stressful time for all of humanity, and the pandemic is far from over. The athletes and the International Olympic Committee understand the possible dangers of holding such an important event, but also recognize that this opportunity for unity, morale, and prosperity is too big to pass up. In such dire times, we need something to raise our spirits and bring some joy back into our life. We’ve made incredible advances in medicine through the development of an effective vaccine, and everyone involved will take extra steps to ensure the safety and well-being of all participants and the people of Tokyo. Throughout our history, we’ve overcome many challenging situations, and if everyone takes the proper precautions this year, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics will be mentioned in the annals of history as a beacon of hope in the darkest of times.
Anthony Chen
