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© KYODOAthletes on edge with Tokyo Olympics less than 1 month away
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Beto Ramirez
Choose the safety of your life for you and your loved ones. It’s more important than the risks involved in this corporate monopoly of a sports disaster
Tokyo-Engr
Yoshino san has stated it very well
The event does not need to happen however NBC and the IOC have dictated these games will go on.
Tell_me_bout_it
whoa, who would have thought the image of the Olympics would turn south in the eyes of millions one day...
Jim
Oh give me a break - agree that these athletes have spent years to prepare and all hard work etc - how about the normal life that has been shattered by this prolonged road to misery in Japan, where many people have lost their jobs, livelihood? Any thoughts and concerns about normal Tanaka and Keiko of Japanese population? Do we see any news article highlighting how normal people lives have been impacted?
Even if there is no olympics, the athletes still have a healthy body, sponsors - you will miss out on participating in this once in a lifetime opportunity sure, but your life is not going to come to a stop.....talk about double standards and privilege.
If you are so torn about in your thinking have some guts, take a stance which you know in your gut is right thing and withdraw - do the right thing for a change and you will sleep well in night, can look in your children eyes later in your life and be proud of the decision you make now
tamanegi
Ridiculous paranoia. JOC, IOC officials, the PM and Tokyo Governor have pledged a safety Olympic bound by emotion. Take care and everyone will be fine.
Bjorn Tomention
Some starting to realize the stupidity in their selfish choice, good , more need to see the situation and withdraw, no athletes means no competition means no games , excellent idea.
Be proud and not come to the covid games !
snowymountainhell
“Could you hold that placard up,… and now, turn it towards the camera? (Away from the intended JOC) …. Yes, there. …That’s it. Good! We got it!”
anon99999
The Japanese athletes have little to worry about since they are free to do and go where they like, ( do they even get the daily tests?} but the foreign athletes who are going to be locked up in their Olympic village, except when they compete, unable to go anywhere and packed out of the country as soon as they finish competing who must be wondering what they are getting into. Plus for the inevitable cases that will test positive in the daily tests, it is off to hospital or some other quarantine facility for 14 days whatever, no competing and then packed off home.
Michael Machida
Im on edge due to the Japan Olympics too because I might get COVID 19 thanks to the IOC and the Japanese Government. We are all on edge!
N.M.
No they won't. The Paralympics follows with also big delegations from lots of countries.
So it would be more correct to say that it closes on September 5th. In other words, it is more than a full month of increased risk.
ian
We commute and go to work everyday, unvaccinated. Who do you think are more at risk from covid, us or them?
2 Year Old
if the J gov went hard and fast with the vaccine roll out from Janauary, they would have been near 60% or more now (I don’t know what % in Japan don’t want it)… even 80%+ if so many wanted, and then everyone would have loved opening the games up local spectators, restaurants back to full time hours, viewing parties in the parks etc…
But they chose not to… and now it it bites them big time.
However, I still can’t see the 30-40% of people who vote, and the tiny % of country people who hold 50% of the voting power, voting them out of office.
8T
It's time for the people to take their power back and kick out that bureaucratic and greedy nightmare that is known as the IOC. They clearly do not understand what is best for the people of any country. Fans and ATHLETES alike are trying to communicate to just postpone until the pandemic calms down a bit more. It's all about the money, that's it. They got too greedy, Cancel the Olympics and teach the IOC a very painful lesson. Japan should be the first country to set the IOC straight on the future of what the true spirit of the Olympics is about.
Yubaru
Dont expect the Japanese to be a part of any "kicking out" and the rest of the world hardly seems to care!
How? When Japan is the biggest country pushing for them to happen, how in the world would you expect it to show the IOC or the world anything?
virusrex
Athletes on edge? now imagine how are the doctors and nurses that have had to deal with the waves of patients of COVID, and the people that are still unvaccinated and risk their lives if they get infected.
Bob Fosse
Absolutely.
It’s a good moment in time to remember that despite all the sponsors, fat cats and politicians screwing things up the only people really getting screwed are the athletes.
Yeah yeah, billions of viewers and all the little children’s dreams blah blah…
Bob Fosse
The Onion. Parody and sarcasm alive and well it seems.
Richard Gallagher
Kei Nishikori, is able to speak out because he is fairly wealthy and independent from any Japanese sporting organization. In fact, he lives in Florida. Nor is his career dependent on The Olympics.
Other Japanese athletes remain silent to avoid being ostracized or duly punished for speaking out. Especially, those in a team sport.
Where are those who espouse radical points of view such as Megan Rapinoe, who is continually outspoken? Foreign athletes seem to express little or no concern about impacts upon Japan, from an event that invites a spread of not just SARSCoV-2, but its variants and the possible mutation into a Tokyo variant, spreadin throughout.
Naomi Osaka, has expressed reservations and the need for there to be a discussion that was on May 10th. However, attendant to that statement was an intention to participate in the Games.
Sven Asai
The citizens like you and me are on edge, but surely not those pampered ‘athletes’ who live in a golden bubble from their hobby while anybody else has to do sports in free time at own costs.
Bob Fosse
Are you volunteering for the 100m? How will you be more entertaining than those hobbyist pampered athletes?
Tokyo-Engr
Sorry for the "sensitive" athletes but what about the citizens of Japan and those who have lost love ones or their businesses during this pandemic.
The athletes are playing games...the rest of us are dealing with real life
Give me a break
Abbey
" to get pumped " I really don't think he would use that kind if ridiculous English term .
Garthgoyle
Concerned athletes don't need to speak up to express their opinion. Get together and start quitting the games en mass.
Richard Burgan
It's not the Olympics that are the problem. Almost all of the international Olympics and their team members will be fully vaccinated before they come to Japan. They will be safer than the average Japanese people who haven't had a chance to get the vaccine. Blame the Japanese government for procrastination and mismanagement of this. Japan should have canceled the 2020 Olympics last year instead of stringing the world along saying everything would be OK. Worst of all Japan knew it could vaccinate its population and create a safe environment but didn't do it. So, we are going to have the weirdest Olympics ever and Japan (AKA Prime Minister Suga) will always be remembered for it.
Richard Burgan
By the way, what's the deal with the Olympic condoms? First, several were to be included in the welcome kit in every athletes' room at the Olympic village. Then they said they would provide two with a strict note that they were not to be used in the Olympic village. And now, two will be provided as a parting gift! If the people who are managing the condoms are also running the Olympics, God help us!
Antiquesaving
Everyone should be on edge.
Already we have had participants test positive.
40,000 workers only started getting Vaccinated last week 2,500 a day and the JOC says vaccination for these people will be completed in August!!!!! The games start in July!
Even those vaccinated with their fist dose this week will not be at full protection by the start of the games because their second dose will not be until minimum the 5th of July and according to Pfizer's own data full immunization isn't reach for 7 to 14 days after the second dose.
Seems someone forgot how the vaccine works or to tell the IOC and JOC.
So closed environment with not properly vaccinated people that will only be tested occasionally ( the JOC's own words) should make the athletes on edge.
TARA TAN KITAOKA
No Olympics, no problems.
sf2k
The only way it was stopped last time was when all the athletes quit. They need to do that same thing again
Sanjinosebleed
Ummmm....incase people hadn't noticed Covid is already rampant in Japan. The Olympians will be the most at risk not the Japanese population which is already deep into this wave. Most people don't even know they have Corona so the sky won't be falling anytime soon. As long as those who are most at risk such as the over 70s and people with secondary illnesses are vaccinated then this will make no significant difference to japans current situation.
When the daily testing rate is less than 7-8 thousand in greater Tokyo does anyone actually belive they are getting all the cases?? I bet if there was a reputable study of antibodies in this area over 50% of tokyoites would have already had corona!
Vaccinate the old and sick and this becomes less dangerous than the seasonal flu!