Yesterday, BBC shared an article that detailed the latest information about the 2021 Olympic Games from the International Olympics Committee’s (IOC) President, Thomas Bach. The Olympics, which have already been a hot topic of discussion since their initial rescheduling, are still not in the clear despite being pushed all the way to the summer of 2021.
In BBC’s interview, Bach shares that he would understand why the Olympics would need to be canceled if they were not take place in the summer of 2021. He states,
“You cannot forever employ 3,000 to 5,000 people in an organizing committee. You cannot have the athletes being in uncertainty.”
This is a big update because athletes from all over the world have already had to adjust their training to accommodate for the extra year of prep time, and with uncertainty still on the horizon it adds an extra level of complication for all parties involved.
In the lengthy interview, Bach touches on a variety of topics about what’s to potentially come with the 2021 Olympics. He states that if the Olympics were to take place in 2021 that they would prove to be one of the most unique ever and could potentially place the world in a state of solidarity, as nearly everyone has been effected in some way by the novel Coronavirus.
He adds that reorganizing the event the first time was a “mammoth” task in itself and the committee is doing their best to work with the resources at hand and the information being provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Bach points out,
“There is no blueprint for it so we have to reinvent the wheel day by day. It’s very challenging and at the same time fascinating.”
A fairly large predictor for the 2021 Olympics to take place is if a vaccine will be found in a timely manner. In the BBC article, they point out that Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stated that it would be hard to host the Games if there is not a vaccine found in time.
Bach also added the Abe has mentioned that as for Japan, 2021 is the last option to make the Games work.
This all is big news and leaves a lot of uncertainty on the horizon for athletes, fans, and coaches everywhere. Hopefully as time passes, more updates will provide better directives per the feasibility of the 2021 Olympics.
Feature image from @olympics Instagram page.
