[POLL] Should the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games be cancelled, postponed or held at any cost?

[heywoodu 15,141]

1 hour ago, phelps said:

 

some of them are, others don't...

 

it depends on sports (no outdoor activity is allowed anymore, so, cyclists for instance can't train)

 

Not entirely true of course. It's not ideal by a long shot, mostly mentally, but also cyclists can absolutely train inside.

[dcro 10,210]

1 minute ago, heywoodu said:

 

Not entirely true of course. It's not ideal by a long shot, mostly mentally, but also cyclists can absolutely train inside.

 

Yes, espeically the climbs and downhills.

[heywoodu 15,141]

2 minutes ago, dcro said:

 

Yes, espeically the climbs and downhills.

 

I said it's not ideal  

 

Downhills are the most impossible part of course, for climbs one can simply set the machine on a higher resistance level and set a certain pace you want to keep or something. Again, it is not perfect at all and one for sure needs some actual competition before being able to really peak, but it is definitely possible to stay in quite a decent shape for the time being.

[Quaker2001 251]

5 hours ago, Maxim Fastovsky said:

 

I feel like the longer they go without announcing postponement the worst it will get as far as damage to the olympics, and more power those anti olympics groups will get. Just enough to see the replies on twitter to each of their posts about the fire flying to tokyo, and not just by noylmpicsla, but a lot of people calling for that.

 

I've seen some tweets from people a lot smarter than us make a good point.. the Olympics are a collaboration between the IOC, the OCOG, plus 200+ NOC's and however many sport federations.  Takes more than a couple of meetings and some phone calls to come up with a new plan for the Olympics.  Much easier for UEFA, who could make the quick decision to postpone Euro 2020 with very little consultation from the domestic leagues who may need that window in the late spring/early summer to finish up their seasons.  Easy call for them.

 

Bach couldn't come out and say the Olympics are postponed without a solid plan and consultation with everyone involved.  They'll come up with something they can present to everyone.  Yes, it's a little tone deaf to talk about training, but he's right about one thing.. speculation at this time would be extremely counter-productive

[Quaker2001 251]

5 hours ago, phelps said:

 

that's what I meant when I wrote that we have to look deeper...

 

it doesn't change for the Tokyo Games, but do you really think that the Olympic brand would keep the same value if the Olympics are held in the original date and work perfect under any aspect rather than they are postponed/cancelled/experiencing something tragic?

 

no way...

 

the IOC would lose billions if something goes wrong (and having a conflict with some sports federations/nocs/sponsors means that something went wrong)...

 

p.s. moreover, do you really think that IOC takes any decision in the interest of Japan and in general of the organizing committee of the Games?

then, tell me why do we have the swimming finals late at night (Rio 2016) and/or in the morning (Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020)?

why in Tokyo do we have the men's Basketball Bronze Medal match scheduled after the Gold Medal match?

why do we have things like Skateboarding, Surfing, BMX Freestyle, so many events in Swimming and Gymnastics, next time round Break Dance and so on in the Olympic schedule?

 

c'mon!

as I wrote, I'm not blaming anybody, but the US being the main sports politics powerhouse and the US TV Networks' interest being more protected than any other because they are the main contributors of IOC and some international federations is a fact...

and because of that, it's one of the main factors to be taken into account when analyzing pros and cons of taking any decision...

 

There are still all the NOCs and sports federations out there who have a voice.  The United States doesn't necessarily get to have the loudest voice here just because they have the greatest investment, particularly in a situation like this where they have to act quick.  Everyone will be consulted because these are not normal circumstances.

 

I agree there needs to be a long look, but that goes beyond American interests.  When swimming finals are held for the benefit of American TV audiences, that's FINA making the decision they want to do that because it's best for them.  Same thing the ISU did with morning figure skating in PyeongChang.  Yes, these things are done for financial reasons because they have the choice to do so.  Choices are limited here.

 

In the end, I believe the Olympics will be postponed to next Summer.  That's because it's the best decision for everyone involved, not just those with the most amount of money on the line.

[Quaker2001 251]

4 hours ago, Vektor said:

 

Eh, the Olympics will be fine. It survived Munich, which was a LOT more tragic than what a potentially messy postponement would be. We shouldn't be so dramatic about this, just two years ago the "brand" was able to survive the NHL mess, and unless the NBA does something similar, this postponement will actually be less of an issue for the games than the NHL boycott. 

 

And there really isn't much to discuss about this. Everyone will most likely lose a lot more money if they host the games this year. It's obvious at this point that a postponement to next year is the best course of action for everyone involved (unless by some miracle the pandemic will be over in one or two weeks). 

 

The problem with the Olympics of the 60s through the 80s is that most of the issues with the Olympics were external factors rather than poor decisions on the part of the IOC.  Political protests in Mexico City.  Short-sighted security in Munich (although the IOC's response is obviously a big part of that history).  Terrible financial management in Montreal.  And obviously the boyotts in Moscow and Los Angeles.

 

Right now, the IOC doesn't have the best reputation.  People are starting to question the viability of the Olympics because of the burden they pose to countries that want to host them.  If the IOC were to mis-handle this one, their opponents wouldn't soon forget it.  And in the moment we're in now, a lot of people speaking out against the IOC and saying they are being insensitive to world events.  The echo chamber of social media doesn't help matters.

 

The "brand" you speak of is not as strong as it once was.  A postponement is a major issue to deal with and will cause all sorts of problems for a lot of people.  The NHL skipping PyeongChang was a very minor issue by comparison.  I don't see how you can argue that was a bigger deal

[Monzanator 4,503]

6 hours ago, Maxim Fastovsky said:

 

I feel like the longer they go without announcing postponement the worst it will get as far as damage to the olympics, and more power those anti olympics groups will get. Just enough to see the replies on twitter to each of their posts about the fire flying to tokyo, and not just by noylmpicsla, but a lot of people calling for that.

 

Twitter is the LAST thing that will decide whether the Olympics are postponed or not. I'm surprised that people still believe in the social media after the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal

[Vektor 3,326]

1 minute ago, Quaker2001 said:

 

The problem with the Olympics of the 60s through the 80s is that most of the issues with the Olympics were external factors rather than poor decisions on the part of the IOC.  Political protests in Mexico City.  Short-sighted security in Munich (although the IOC's response is obviously a big part of that history).  Terrible financial management in Montreal.  And obviously the boyotts in Moscow and Los Angeles.

 

Right now, the IOC doesn't have the best reputation.  People are starting to question the viability of the Olympics because of the burden they pose to countries that want to host them.  If the IOC were to mis-handle this one, their opponents wouldn't soon forget it.  And in the moment we're in now, a lot of people speaking out against the IOC and saying they are being insensitive to world events.  The echo chamber of social media doesn't help matters.

 

The "brand" you speak of is not as strong as it once was.  A postponement is a major issue to deal with and will cause all sorts of problems for a lot of people.  The NHL skipping PyeongChang was a very minor issue by comparison.  I don't see how you can argue that was a bigger deal

 

 

The NHL boycott was a major issue because less people tuned in to watch the games. If the top athletes will be in Tokyo next year, nobody will give a fuck about what IOC did or did not do, just like in the last 20 years. Nobody gives of a fuck about what social media says as long as it's advantageous to host in some way, which it always will be for some countries. 

[Quaker2001 251]

2 minutes ago, Vektor said:

The NHL boycott was a major issue because less people tuned in to watch the games. If the top athletes will be in Tokyo next year, nobody will give a fuck about what IOC did or did not do, just like in the last 20 years. Nobody gives of a fuck about what social media says as long as it's advantageous to host in some way, which it always will be for some countries. 

 

Hockey is 1 sport out of many at the Winter Olympics.  It cost them viewers, but if we're talking about major controversies with the games, what about the Russians and doping?  What about North Korea-South Korea relations that created a number of concerns in the lead up?  The NHL skipping 2018 would barely be a blip on the radar so far as history is concerned compared to if the Olympics had to be postponed.  That literally has never happened before in their history.  People will look back on that 200 years from now and wonder what happened?  No one would do the same with 2018 because NHL players weren't there.

 

And I disagree about social media.  In the past decade, we've seen several potential Olympic host cities have to give up because it was put to a referendum or a public vote.  I'm pretty sure that happened with Budapest with their bid for the 2024 Olympics.  My understanding - and you can correct me if this is wrong - is that there were political movements to stop the bid and their efforts succeeded when it was going to force the possibility of city residents rejecting the Olympics.  So yes, that's exactly how social media can influence a decision.

 

You're right that if the Olympics get moved to next year and everyone figures out how to make that work, no one will care.  The problem is now where the IOC is saying they could hold them this summer when it might not be possible to do so.  So if the IOC continues on that path, they're potentially asking for trouble in the midst of a worldwide pandemic like we haven't seen in more than a century

[Vektor 3,326]

14 minutes ago, Quaker2001 said:

 

Hockey is 1 sport out of many at the Winter Olympics.  It cost them viewers, but if we're talking about major controversies with the games, what about the Russians and doping?  What about North Korea-South Korea relations that created a number of concerns in the lead up?  The NHL skipping 2018 would barely be a blip on the radar so far as history is concerned compared to if the Olympics had to be postponed.  That literally has never happened before in their history.  People will look back on that 200 years from now and wonder what happened?  No one would do the same with 2018 because NHL players weren't there.

 

And I disagree about social media.  In the past decade, we've seen several potential Olympic host cities have to give up because it was put to a referendum or a public vote.  I'm pretty sure that happened with Budapest with their bid for the 2024 Olympics.  My understanding - and you can correct me if this is wrong - is that there were political movements to stop the bid and their efforts succeeded when it was going to force the possibility of city residents rejecting the Olympics.  So yes, that's exactly how social media can influence a decision.

 

You're right that if the Olympics get moved to next year and everyone figures out how to make that work, no one will care.  The problem is now where the IOC is saying they could hold them this summer when it might not be possible to do so.  So if the IOC continues on that path, they're potentially asking for trouble in the midst of a worldwide pandemic like we haven't seen in more than a century

 

 

Hockey is by far the most popular winter sport, nothing comes close it, so no, it's not "just 1 out of many". Hockey actually has some stars that regular people heard about. 

 

And what you are talking about isn't "social media". It's regular referendum. People didn't need any "influencing" in Budapest to vote against the Olympics, because they never wanted it in the first place, it's the most left-wing part of country where people are against most of the sport events. And as I said, there will always be some cities where the politicians in power will have the support of the public on this matter. Let's also not forget that not every country is a democracy. The Olympics doesn't need the Western democracies to host to survive.