It's Games Over!

News that the Olympics will not take place this year is devastating for athletes and a bitter blow for hosts Japan

- Charlea Sieberhagen-Grey

Major marathons can­ celled. The Monaco Grand Prix axed. The Premier League and Super Rugby sus­ pended. It’s been one blow after the next for fans as Covid­19 wreak ed havoc with sporting fixtures.

And at the back of everyone’s minds was: what about the Olympics? For a while bosses insisted there’d be no turning back. Too much money had been spent by Japan to host the extravaganza in Tokyo – so the show would go on.

But by the time the Olympic flame ar­ rived from Greece to begin its tour of Ja­ pan, they’d begun to waver. Hints started being made that the event may have to be postponed – and then the announce­ment came: the Games were off. For now.

“To make a contribution to the containment of the coronavirus we agreed to postpone the Olympic Games to 2021,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach announced.

Although it was a decision the world was expecting it was still a bitter blow –and everyone from hotel owners to the Japanese government that had commit­ ted billions of dollars to making the 2020 Games in July a success has been count­ ing the cost. But hardest hit of all are the 11 000 athletes who’ve spent years train­ing and are now being forced to put their Olympic dream on hold.

Instead of taking part in a spectacle that’s meant to unite the world, these sports stars and their fans are united in fear and uncertainty.

HISTORIC DECISION

Since the modern Olympics started in 1896, the Games have been cancelled three times but have never been postponed.