The COVID Olympics Are Over

The Tokyo games ended with an uninteresting closing ceremony highlighted with a fake light show that only served as a reminder that the games were primarily for the benefit of TV viewers (TV ratings were down, btw).  The Tokyo Olympics have also shown that the global sporting event is increasingly tied to events beyond athletics — a reality that will be inescapable in future Games.

While COVID-19 delayed and then reshaped the Tokyo Olympics, we have yet to see the Games turn into a much-feared global superspreader event.  Early results indicate that the combination of frequent pre-Games and game-time testing, combined with an estimated 80%-plus vaccination rate, seems to have limited outbreaks among the Olympics participants.  Even thought there were no fans, 29 athletes were excluded after testing positive, and even those who were able to take part had a dramatically altered Olympic experience, without spectators or even family and friends to cheer them on.

There's been a dearth of meaningful COVID information from Olympic organizers, but there was a spike in cases throughout Tokyo, and infectious disease experts say it's too early to rule out any connection to the Games.  Nevertheless, Annemarie Sparrow, a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, tweeted: “If the Olympic Village were a country, it would be on a par with Russia & Brazil —43rd & 44th worst in the world.”

Health care experts say there needs to be a better plan for how individuals are isolated for COVID protocols, after Tokyo organizers came under fire for the conditions athletes faced during quarantine. The heat was also a major factor in Tokyo, and a reminder that global warming will need to be considered in the timing of future Games, as well as which cities are chosen and how venues are designed.  Host countries can construct venues with shade in mind and other relief from the heat, or organizers can schedule the Games for a cooler time of year.

Olympic officials also had to bend on longstanding rules against political demonstrations.  In Tokyo, women’s soccer players took a knee before a number of matches, while athletes from the U.S. and China also found ways to make political statements that pushed the boundaries of even the relaxed standards.

The Olympics is a huge business, and the financial assumptions that underlie the Games are overdue for reevaluation.  The people of Japan got little for their massive investment, separated by metal fences from the Games they paid so dearly to host. With no ticket revenue, an already challenging economic bet turned into a sea of red ink.  Sponsors, likewise, saw their ability to capitalize on their investment sharply limited. Gone entirely was the ability to schmooze clients and pitch products to fans.

The next Olympics will be nearly six months from now in Beijing.  Nearly half of Americans say China shouldn't be allowed to host the Winter Games in 2022 because of its record on human rights abuses, a new Axios/Momentive poll finds.  These results suggest that, in addition to facing public health challenges over the continued spread of COVID, the Beijing Games will be politically divisive for a large segment of the American audience.