...over Coronavirus fears

https://apnews.com/58043910be7bdc6818344bdee2096bc2

Dick Pound, the longest-serving member of the International Olympic Committee, says there's a three-month window to decide the fate of the Tokyo Olympics, which open July 24. “You could certainly go to two months out if you had to,” Pound said, which would mean putting off a decision until late May and hoping the virus is under control. “A lot of things have to start happening. You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels, the media folks will be in there building their studios.”

This would be a true travesty to all the athletes who trained so hard. This is their dream. Let's all hope the games aren't canceled.

Summer Olympics should be called off -- now (https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/03/20/sally-jenkins-tokyo-olympics-coronavirus/)

"Call the Olympics off. It’s time," says Sally Jenkins after IOC president Thomas Bach said Thursday that "cancelation is not on the agenda." (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/sports/olympics/olympics-coronavirus-bach-ioc.html) "The Tokyo Games cannot possibly go forward without jeopardizing people all around the world, and every day that International Olympic Committee officials hesitate, they contribute to the crisis and the imminent collapse of medical systems," says Jenkins. "A hard shutdown is the responsible thing to do, and anything less is negligent, maybe even lethally so." Jenkins adds: "Bach and other officials continue to intone that it’s too early to cancel or postpone because everything might be fine by July. U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee chair Susanne Lyons said in a teleconference on Friday, 'We don’t have to make a decision. Our Games are not next week, or two weeks from now. They’re four months from now. And I think a lot may change in that time period.' Wrong. They do need to make a decision — and make it now. The entire world is behind on this disease, lagging. Have they not been listening to Anthony S. Fauci? We don’t have time. We don’t have time for the IOC’s hemming platitudes, and the USOPC’s vague blather. Do the basic math. Things are accelerating. Cases in New York are doubling overnight. There were 245,000 cases worldwide as of Friday, and while it took three months to count the first 100,000 infections, it took just 12 days to reach the 200,000 mark. Hong Kong has reported its single biggest jump in cases to date, apparently because people are still traveling. Get it? The disease is speeding up because we aren’t shutting down fast enough. We don’t have time for athletes to keep training, or meeting with coaches, risking infection or becoming asymptomatic spreaders." ALSO: The uncertainty of the Olympic games hangs over the TV industry (https://qz.com/1822304/tv-advertisers-are-waiting-to-learn-coronaviruss-impact-on-the-olympics/).

It's gonna get cancelled...just like everything else!

Let's just make it that 2020 NEVER existed!

It's gonna get cancelled...just like everything else!

Let's just make it that 2020 NEVER existed!

I have a good feeling that it’s gonna get canceled as well.

IOC member says Summer Olympics will be postponed (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/03/23/olympics-2020-ioc-member-tokyo-games-postponed-dick-pound-coronavirus/2899848001/)

Veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA Today that the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. “On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound told USA Today in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.” Pound added: "It will come in stages. We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.” Pound's comments come hours after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (https://deadline.com/2020/03/2020-toyko-olympics-suspended-coronavirus-1202890055/) said the Summer Games were likely to be postponed, which came hours after Canada and Australia (https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/488971-australia-joins-canada-in-pulling-out-of-2020-olympics) became the first countries to pull out of the Summer Olympics as scheduled due to coronavirus. ALSO: Why has the IOC been so resistant to suspending the Olympics? (https://www.theringer.com/2020/3/23/21190544/tokyo-games-postponement-consideration-ioc-planning)

NBC Universal's contract with the IOC prevents the Summer Olympics from being moved to the fall due to NFL games (https://twitter.com/Bachscore/status/1242213435204669447)

If the Summer Olympics are postponed due to coronavirus, they will likely happen in 2021 because NBC's commitment to Sunday Night Football in the fall.

A decision on the Summer Olympics will be made in the next four weeks (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/03/22/2020-tokyo-olympics-postponement-being-discussed-ioc/2894633001/)

IOC president Thomas Bach wrote that the IOC has ruled out canceling the Summer Games altogether but is now exploring alternative ways to stage this summer's Tokyo Olympics — including postponement — due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Last month, IOC senior member Dick Pound said the IOC had until late May to decide (https://www.primetimer.com/item/IOC-has-until-late-May-to-decide-whether-to-cancel-the-Tokyo-Olympics-over-Coronavirus-fears-5ZS57M) the fate of the games. Meanwhile, the Canadian Olympic Committee (https://twitter.com/teamcanadapr/status/1241900193395740674) may accelerate the IOC's decision with its decision to pull out of this year's Olympics and Paralympics unless the games are postponed.

How the delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics hurts NBC: Peacock's streaming launch is the biggest loser (https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/nbc-2020-summer-tokyo-olympics-coronavirus.html)

The delay of the 2020 Olympics to 2021 blows up NBC's months of planning to launch Peacock in July ahead of the Summer Games, according to Josef Adalian. Peacock would've featured some exclusive coverage, plus the ability to stream the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony before they aired in primetime. NBC is also facing good and bad news with the delay in terms of advertisers. "The good news, of course, is that NBC should be able to roll some — maybe even most — of those ad contracts over to the 2021 Games. After all, Coca-Cola is still going to be selling soda a year from now, and a delayed Olympics will still make for an excellent marketing platform," says Adalian. "There’s even the chance that, assuming global governments are able to dramatically curb the coronavirus and halt the pandemic, the 2021 Summer Games could become a worldwide celebration of humanity’s triumph over disease. Still, even under that most rosy of scenarios, NBC could still face challenges. Some advertisers will have different marketing needs a year from now and might not think the Olympics match their needs. Others may bail altogether because the global economy is quickly headed toward a recession or because losses caused by the pandemic reduce their ability to spend millions on Olympics advertising. Maybe the ad market will be red-hot by the time the Games finally air, but it’s also possible the country will be experiencing severe economic pain at that time, reducing demand for advertising time and cutting into NBC’s profits." ALSO: NBC Universal says it's "actively working with our advertising partners to navigate this postponement." (https://deadline.com/2020/03/nbcuniversal-advertisers-olympics-delay-coronavirus-1202890926/)

2020 Tokyo Olympics officially postponed to 2021 over coronavirus (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/03/24/tokyo-olympics-postponed-coronavirus-summer-games-2021/2863551001/)

The International Olympic Committee and Japanese government agreed to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics "to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021" (https://www.olympic.org/news/joint-statement-from-the-international-olympic-committee-and-the-tokyo-2020-organising-committee) due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The decision comes four months before the scheduled Opening Ceremony on July 24. This is the first time in Olympic history that the games have been disrupted by a global health issue. "The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present," the IOC and Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said in a joint statement. During the delay the Olympic flame will stay in Tokyo and the 2021 games will still be called "Tokyo 2020."

They might postponed it to 2022 for several reasons.

One example reason is that they already found too many incidents on population, pollution, limited winter weather, finance and tyranny inside China, which led to that starting plague. It turns out that China accepting the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in it was a dangerously erratic move.

So that means, the IOC may have to cancel the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and replace it with Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2022, unfortunately, TBH, IMO.

Tokyo Olympics Could Be Canceled If Not Held in 2021, Says Committee President

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2889101-tokyo-olympics-could-be-canceled-if-not-held-in-2021-says-committee-president

If I were the IOC, I would cancel the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics instead, since China has too many scandalous incidents in it on finance, tyranny, population, pollution and limited winter weather altogether. So 2022 should be the final postponement default of the Tokyo Olympics because Summer Olympics has more global financial public advantage on population and finance than Winter Olympics. Winter Olympics just focuses more on both mountains and unlimited winter weather than population, tbh, IMO.

So, as a result, please don’t forfeit cancelling the Tokyo Olympics yet.

Summer Olympic Games were supposed to begin this week: In retrospect, it's ridiculous that postponement took so long (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/brennan/2020/07/20/2020-olympics-would-have-been-week-what-2021-games-like/5468095002/)

The International Olympic Committee waited until March 24 to officially postpone this year's Summer Olympics to one year from now after several countries pulled out. “What was really surprising I guess was that it took that long to come to the conclusion that it was a non-starter,” says Dick Pound, the longest-serving IOC member, told USA Today in an interview from his home in Montreal. “The curve hadn’t really started to head north in a lot of countries. It was serious and clearly spreading but the numbers were nowhere near what they were to become. I don’t think as many people as should have understood what a real pandemic is like.” From the perspective today, he says, there's "no way at all" the games could have proceeded. "You can see what’s going on now in (the United States) and in Brazil, some of these other countries, where the wave is still arriving. It just couldn’t happen. I don’t think the public authorities would allow it to happen," says Pound. "Think about what that would look like: you’re going to quarantine entire Olympic teams for 14 days when they arrive in Japan, assuming they can get there? No. No way at all.” ALSO: There's still a lot of uncertainty over whether the Summer Olympics can happen one year from now (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/19/sports/2021-tokyo-olympics-protocols.html).

There can be case that 2020 Olympics will get cancelled, but that doesn’t mean Tokyo Olympics will get cancelled yet. Tokyo is too an expensive city and I would rather have 4-year setback postponements for Tokyo, Paris and LA each, instead with new refreshed financial techniques, tbh:

* Tokyo 2024.
* Paris 2028.
* LA 2032.

Tokyo Olympics organizers say the Games can proceed without a coronavirus vaccine (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/tokyo-olympics-japan-coronavirus-vaccines/2020/09/03/8e858c88-e799-11ea-bf44-0d31c85838a5_story.html)

The Japanese government expects there to be a vaccine by the middle of next year. But even if that doesn't happy, the organizers expect the Games to proceed, even if it means limited spectators. “We don’t think a vaccine is a prerequisite for holding the Olympics,” Toshiro Muto, CEO of Tokyo 2020, told The Washington Post. “It would be still beneficial if an effective vaccine is developed by next year, and we do hope that will be the case.”

Tokyo Olympics organizers say the Games can proceed without a coronavirus vaccine (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/tokyo-olympics-japan-coronavirus-vaccines/2020/09/03/8e858c88-e799-11ea-bf44-0d31c85838a5_story.html)

The Japanese government expects there to be a vaccine by the middle of next year. But even if that doesn't happy, the organizers expect the Games to proceed, even if it means limited spectators. “We don’t think a vaccine is a prerequisite for holding the Olympics,” Toshiro Muto, CEO of Tokyo 2020, told The Washington Post. “It would be still beneficial if an effective vaccine is developed by next year, and we do hope that will be the case.”

That means everyone on this planet earth will get seriously extinct if they insist on the Olympics than vaccine next year, 2021, TBH, IMO.

International Olympic Committee is not considering canceling next year's Summer Games (https://twitter.com/nrarmour/status/1326571415592722432)

IOC president Thomas Bach was asked today if the possibility of cancellation was on the table at next week's meeting with Tokyo organizers. Bach responded no, adding: "The answer to the question about whether cancellation will be discussed, the answer is NO." ALSO: IOC is confident there will be fans at the Tokyo Games (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/11/11/2021-tokyo-olympics-ioc-confident-fans-allowed-covid/6250691002/).

International Olympic Committee is not considering canceling next year's Summer Games (https://twitter.com/nrarmour/status/1326571415592722432)

IOC president Thomas Bach was asked today if the possibility of cancellation was on the table at next week's meeting with Tokyo organizers. Bach responded no, adding: "The answer to the question about whether cancellation will be discussed, the answer is NO." ALSO: IOC is confident there will be fans at the Tokyo Games (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/11/11/2021-tokyo-olympics-ioc-confident-fans-allowed-covid/6250691002/).

I hate to explain and disagree that the vaccine will be the only global focus to everyone on planet earth without both rushing and distracting next year, 2021. the Tokyo Olympics might be pushed back to 2024 and both Paris and LA Olympics will be pushed back to both 2028 and 2032, tbh, IMO.

wow.

They need to push back Japan, Paris and LA Olympics for four years altogether each: 2020 -> 2024, 2024 -> 2028 and 2028 -> 2032, to save both finances and lives together, TBH, IMO.

Tokyo Olympics will scale back the Opening and Closing Ceremonies due to the coronavirus (https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2020/12/23/Tokyo-Olympic-officials-announce-scaled-back-ceremonies/6151608746012/)

The seven-member creative team for the Summer Olympics have been fired (https://twitter.com/Bachscore/status/1341745523053764608) after working on the ceremonies for more than two years. The Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee said Wednesday the delayed Olympics will have a "simpler" and closing ceremony due to the challenges from the coronavirus pandemic. "The ceremonies will still be a great celebration to be enjoyed by the athletes and watching world but will likely take a simpler and more restrained approach designed to reflect the overall simplification of the Games and the potential need to still consider COVID-19 countermeasures," the committee said in a statement.

I doubt that.

This vaccine is serious and you cannot get globally distracted nor globally be in a hurry along the way. Since it has to be applied to everyone on planet earth in this serious technique, then you should postpone the Tokyo Olympics to either 2022 or 2024. Besides mentioning "finances than safety" for Tokyo Olympics next year might not be officially safe yet. It's better to use "both finances AND safety" instead, TBH, IMO.

IOC member Dick Pound: I'm not sure the Tokyo Summer Olympics will happen (https://apnews.com/article/yoshihide-suga-tokyo-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-tokyo-olympics-japan-cc0ff909fc55074063a736d042dac9a8)

“I can’t be certain because the ongoing elephant in the room would be the surges in the virus,“ Pound said, specifically referring to Japan declaring a state of emergency (https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/04/asia/japan-covid-state-of-emergency-intl-hnk/index.html) this week in response to the surging coronavirus pandemic.

I guess it depends if they think they can get by on TV money without spectator and tourist money.

I can tell you this. You haven't been truly ripped off in your life until you've been to the Olympics. From hotels to tickets to souvenirs and especially concessions. Eventually you become numb to it. I haven't gone in many years but I bet it would cost at least $25,000 today.

Finalizing for this summer may not be safe.

Cancelling officially would result on discarding too much money at the same time.

So the answer, is you're better off hanging onto both finances and safety at the same time during one more postponement carefully.

Tokyo Olympics officials deny talk of cancelation, say they are "focused on hosting" (https://apnews.com/article/yoshihide-suga-thomas-bach-tokyo-sports-asia-coronavirus-pandemic-6f9df2d9985d9ec9167cb615c84d3ac9)

Approximately six months before the Opening Ceremony (https://apnews.com/article/japan-olympic-games-tokyo-3655c06c306289007277734fc8795cbc), The Times of London reported (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/japan-looks-for-a-way-out-of-tokyo-olympics-because-of-virus-lf868xfnd) Thursday that "the Japanese government has privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus, and the focus is now on securing the Games for the city in the next available year, 2032." Japan is currently in a state of emergency over its COVID crisis. IOC president Thomas Bach and local organizers have pushed back on the report. In a statement Friday, the local organizing committee did not address The Times story directly, but said the Olympics were going forward and had the support of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. "All our delivery partners including the national government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the IOC and the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) are fully focused on hosting the games this summer," the statement said. "We hope that daily life can return to normal as soon as possible, and we will continue to make every effort to prepare for a safe and secure games." The Associated Press says it would be difficult for Japan to wait and host the Olympics in 2032, as suggested by The Times article: "The idea of Tokyo waiting a decade seems unlikely, given the cost of maintaining venues, negotiating new leases, and so forth," says The AP. Tokyo has already spent about $25 billion to organize these Olympics, most of which is public money."

NBC Universal is "pretty confident" the Summer Olympics will go on this year (https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/olympics-summer-tokyo-covid-comcast-nbcuniversal-1234894561/)

“We’re pretty confident that the Olympics are going to happen,” NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell said during an earnings call this morning. “Advertisers are also optimistic the Olympics are coming.” His boss, Comcast chairman-CEO Brian Roberts, added: "I believe there will be an Olympics. I hope there will be an Olympics. That’s our best intelligence at this time."

NBC will air the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony live in the U.S. on a Friday morning (https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-north-america-tokyo-coronavirus-pandemic-japan-25207afa4ad7aa08e47d105586d1f337)

The network plans to devote nearly the entire day on Friday, July 23, to the Opening Ceremony of the coronavirus-delayed Summer Olympics. With Tokyo 13 hours ahead of New York and 16 ahead of Los Angeles, the opening ceremony will begin at 8 p.m. in Japan, which is 7 a.m. ET and 4 a.m. PT. The ceremony will be followed by a special edition of the Today show and a three-hour preview of the Summer Olympics, followed by a re-airing of the Opening Ceremony in primetime. "I think like so many of us, people’s lives have changed. And after we had all been locked down for a few months, the postponed Olympics, and its meaning, I think became very clear that it will be an incredibly moving moment in sports and in the world when the world comes together,” said Molly Solomon, the executive producer and president of NBC Olympics. “We recognized we had to make our production plans be equal to the challenge of these unprecedented challenging times. And that meant a live opening ceremony and an enhanced primetime broadcast where most of the folks will gather to watch it." NBC hasn't decided who will host the Opening Ceremony.

NBC will air the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony live in the U.S. on a Friday morning (https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-north-america-tokyo-coronavirus-pandemic-japan-25207afa4ad7aa08e47d105586d1f337)

The network plans to devote nearly the entire day on Friday, July 23, to the Opening Ceremony of the coronavirus-delayed Summer Olympics. With Tokyo 13 hours ahead of New York and 16 ahead of Los Angeles, the opening ceremony will begin at 8 p.m. in Japan, which is 7 a.m. ET and 4 a.m. PT. The ceremony will be followed by a special edition of the Today show and a three-hour preview of the Summer Olympics, followed by a re-airing of the Opening Ceremony in primetime. "I think like so many of us, people’s lives have changed. And after we had all been locked down for a few months, the postponed Olympics, and its meaning, I think became very clear that it will be an incredibly moving moment in sports and in the world when the world comes together,” said Molly Solomon, the executive producer and president of NBC Olympics. “We recognized we had to make our production plans be equal to the challenge of these unprecedented challenging times. And that meant a live opening ceremony and an enhanced primetime broadcast where most of the folks will gather to watch it." NBC hasn't decided who will host the Opening Ceremony.

That will also result on forcing the Beijing Winter Olympics to be postponed to 2023.

The pandemic may benefit the Tokyo Olympics by bringing the Games closer to their original ideals (https://theweek.com/articles/973963/tokyo-olympics-return-games-original-ideals)

"Over 120 years ago, Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic games, set out to describe the philosophy of 'Olympism,' which 'seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example, social responsibility, and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles,'" says Jeva Lange. "The Olympic movement as a whole was intended to 'contribute to building a peaceful and better world' through sport, and connect back to the ancient Greek tradition of the Olympic truce — that is, the gathering of nations in peace to join together in fair play. Of course, the games have drifted far from these ideals over the years, from Nazi Germany co-opting the games, to the Mexico City and Munich massacres, to petty Cold War boycotts, to the recent doping scandal in Russia. The games have also been steadily plagued by accusations of corruption, xenophobic nationalism, and human rights violations; that is, the worst of humankind's tendencies, rather than the best. At first glance, Tokyo seems poised to be more of the same. But interestingly, it is actually the setbacks — chief among them, the COVID-19 pandemic — that might bring the summer Olympics closer to Coubertin's stated goals than they've been in a long time. Take the lack of foreign spectators. Because of the ongoing pandemic, Japan has decided that no tourists will be allowed into the country this summer to physically watch the games. It's a decision that is being described as disastrous for the country, which has pumped potentially as much as $30 billion into the games — worsened now, without the anticipated return of an economic boost from spectators flooding into the country. But greed has been one of the primary drivers of corruption surrounding the Olympics, and the Tokyo games are now deprived of any major financial incentive beyond the (admittedly not insignificant) broadcasting rights. As such, there's now a renewed focus on what the event is <i>supposed to be about in the first place: the unity of joining together, despite everything, for sport."

NBC's Summer Olympics primetime show will use an outdoor studio for the first time in the network's history (https://deadline.com/2021/04/nbc-tokyo-olympics-mike-tirico-today-show-primetime-1234733340/)

The network has constructed an outdoor deck with panoramic views of Tokyo and the landmark Rainbow Bridge for its anchors, including primetime host Mike Tirico, to use.

Bob Costas says the Tokyo Olympics should be moved to 2022, agrees that the IOC can be "shady'" (https://www.thewrap.com/bob-costas-tells-maher-tokyo-olympics-should-be-postponed-video/)

Costas, a veteran of 12 Olympic Games for NBC Sports, tells Bill Maher on HBO's Real Time that he doesn't think the Summer Games should proceed given the ongoing pandemic. But if the Summer Games are moved to 2022, "then as a one-off it would go back to the way it was prior to the ’90s." 1992 was the last year the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics were held in the same calendar year. When Maher asked Costas if it’s wrong to think the International Olympic Committee as “shady.” Costas responded: “It’s not wrong. They have an affinity for authoritarian regimes. They’ll be back in Beijing for the Winter Olympics. They were in Sochi (Russia) in 2014. They were in Beijing in 2008.”

Tokyo Olympics will proceed without spectators due to the pandemic (https://variety.com/2021/global/asia/olympic-games-tokyo-state-of-emergency-1235014557/)

The decision follows Japan declaring a state of emergency that will take effect Monday and be in place throughout the duration of the games.

Tokyo Olympics organizer fears that a spectator ban could hurt athletes' performance (https://www.wsj.com/articles/holding-tokyo-olympics-without-fans-could-hurt-performance-organizer-says-11625828835)

Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto, a former Olympic speedskater and cyclist, said Friday that some athletes had told her they were ready to compete in empty stadiums but that she knew how much better it was to feel the support of the crowd. "I sincerely hope the athletes strive to compete at their highest level,” Hashimoto said. “As an athlete I always wanted people to be watching.”

NBC Universal releases its daily Tokyo Olympics schedule (https://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2021/07/09/tokyo-olympics-listings/)

The Opening Ceremony will be shown live on NBC starting at 6:55 a.m. ET on Friday, July 23 with an edited rerun airing in primetime. The Closing Ceremony will be shown live on Peacock at 7 a.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 8., also with an edited repeat airing in primetime on NBC.

ESPN https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31847805/tokyo-2020-organizing-committee-chief-rule-cancellation-summer-olympics

https://mediacloud.theweek.com/image/private/s--M-bL9kUh--/v1621055760/wu210512.gif

The chief of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee on Tuesday did not rule out a last-minute cancellation of the Olympics, as more athletes tested positive for COVID-19 and major sponsors ditched plans to attend Friday's opening ceremony.

Asked at a news conference whether the global sporting showpiece might still be canceled, Toshiro Muto said he would keep an eye on infection numbers and liaise with other organizers if necessary.

"We can't predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases," Muto said.

"We have agreed that based on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks again. At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises."

COVID-19 cases are rising in Tokyo, and the Games, postponed last year because of the pandemic, will be held without spectators. Japan this month decided that participants would compete in empty venues to minimize health risks.

There have been 67 cases of COVID-19 infections in Japan among those accredited for the Games since July 1, when many athletes and officials started arriving, organizers said Tuesday.

Japan, with a vaccination program that has lagged that of most other developed nations, has recorded more than 840,000 cases and 15,055 deaths, and Games host city Tokyo is experiencing a fresh surge, with 1,387 cases recorded Tuesday.

Muto, a former top financial bureaucrat with close ties to Japan's ruling party, is known for his careful choice of words, while officials are facing a domestic public angry about coronavirus restrictions and concerned over a possible spike in cases triggered by Games attendees arriving from abroad.

Organizers, for whom International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said canceling the event had never been an option, have promised to keep the Games "safe and secure."

But experts see gaps in an Olympic "bubble" that mandates frequent testing and has been designed to limit participants' movements.

Seiko Hashimoto, who sits alongside Muto as organizing committee president, said that safety measures introduced to reassure the Japanese public had not necessarily done so and that she was aware that popular support for the Games had dropped.

"I really want to apologize from my heart for the accumulation of frustrations and concerns that the public has been feeling towards the Olympics," Hashimoto told the same news conference.

Unprecedented Challenges

The first major test of how an Olympics can be held in the midst of a pandemic may well come in the men's soccer tournament, when Japan faces a South Africa side that could struggle to field 11 players due to the coronavirus.

That match is due to take place Thursday, a day before an opening ceremony that top sponsor Panasonic Corp. as well as Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp will skip. Toyota Motor Corp. dropped all TV ads linked to the Games on Monday.

Bach, who Kyodo news agency said would meet Japan's Emperor Naruhito on Thursday, said on Tuesday that organizers could never have imagined the "unprecedented challenges" of bringing the global event to Tokyo, praising the "heroic efforts" of medical personnel and volunteers around the world amid the pandemic.

Two members of Mexico's Olympic baseball team tested positive for COVID-19 at the team hotel before their departure for Tokyo, the country's baseball federation said Tuesday.

The athletes, Hector Velazquez and Sammy Solis, who tested positive on July 18, have been isolated, as have all team members pending results of more tests, the federation said.

Kenji Shibuya, former director of the Institute for Population Health at King's College London, said that the organizers' bubble system was already "kind of broken."

"My biggest concern is, of course, there will be a cluster of infections in the [athletes] village or some of the accommodation and interaction with local people," he added.

Hashimoto said members of the public were concerned "because they feel that the current situation appears to show that the playbooks that were meant to guarantee security is not providing a sense of safety."

In a poll in the Asahi newspaper, 68% of respondents expressed doubt about the ability of Olympic organizers to control coronavirus infections, with 55% saying they were opposed to the Games going ahead.

Tokyo Olympics has been a "nightmare" for NBC midway through its first week (https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-07-27/tokyo-olympics-2021-nbc-peacock-biles-osaka-roundtable)

"With shocking upsets, unexpected exits, a 16-hour time difference and a thicket of broadcast, cable and streaming options, the most tumultuous Olympics in years are starting to catch up with the NBC stable of networks, which hold the lucrative U.S. television rights to the two-week event," says the Los Angeles Times' Matt Brennan, Greg Braxton and Tracy Brown. "For me, figuring out how to watch the Olympics has felt like an Olympic-caliber obstacle course because I’ve been trying to catch the events I care about live before I get a news alert or see results trending on Twitter," says Brown. "This has meant figuring out, as has been mentioned, the various broadcast and livestream schedules — all while running on very little sleep. Even then, there’s no way to stay on top of everything, so I also am strategic about choosing what to watch when." Brennan, the Times' TV editor, adds: "Ultimately, my disappointment is not in the competition itself, but in the sense that the Olympic television I grew up on has not grown up with me. In my job I often say that people don’t watch TV the way they used to, so we can’t cover TV the way we used to — and NBC has unfortunately failed to reinvent the model developed in Sydney, Athens and Beijing for an ecosystem now dominated by streaming platforms and social media. All of the struggles you’ve enumerated above and others cited to me by our Times colleagues, are symptoms of this problem: live coverage bouncing between networks, the lack of timely on-demand replays, Peacock’s unintuitive design. Even the tradition of focusing the lion’s share of promotional attention on a handful of name-brand American stars like (Simone) Biles seems parochial in a climate of global fame and increased sensitivity to the pressures on elite athletes. I don’t envy the decision-makers at NBC, who are faced with broadcasting a highly complex, real-time sporting event to a notoriously fickle audience. Certainly, no one could have predicted what the media landscape would look like today when the network became the Summer and Winter Olympics’ exclusive U.S. home starting in 2000, or even when NBC and the IOC signed their last contract extension, through 2032, seven years ago. But it’s hard not to think that the Tokyo Games are shaping up to be NBC’s worst nightmare: evidence that one of TV’s most lucrative events won’t transition smoothly into the medium’s streaming age."

ALSO:


NBC showed commercials Tuesday night during Katie Ledecky's gold medal-winning swim (https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1420219104489771011)
NBC's Tokyo Olympic coverage fell for the first time on Monday night (https://deadline.com/2021/07/nbc-drop-2020-olympics-viewers-rules-primetime-1234800950/)
Hoda Kotb got emotional talking about the Simone Biles situation (https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/hoda-kotb-was-very-upset-by-simone-biles-olympic-exit-01fbm08zg04j)