Tokyo Olympics: Japan 'cornered' into hosting Games, believes former judo medalllist

Japan’s Olympics Committee board member Kaori Yamaguchi, a former judo medallist, hit out at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Japan’s government and the Tokyo 2020 organising body. Yamaguchi, a bronze medal winner in the 1982 Seoul Games, says Japan is being ‘cornered’ into hosting the Games. The Tokyo Olympics remain unpopular in Japan, with public opinion saying the Games be cancelled. But that has not made any difference to the IOC’s plans.

Yamaguchi says the chance to cancel the Games is now gone. This is because Japan is now in a place where they would be unable to follow through on such a decision.

“What will these Olympics be for and for whom? The Games have already lost meaning and are being held just for the sake of them. I believe we have already missed the opportunity to cancel,” she wrote in an opinion piece for Kyodo news agency.

“It would require too much energy to make and follow through with such a decision. We have been cornered into a situation where we cannot even stop now. We are damned if we do, and damned if we do not.”

This is the latest in a stream of opposition to the event. But it seems likely to go ahead regardless.

Can Tokyo Olympics happen in current climate?

Yamaguchi also hit out at the IOC, which has repeatedly asserted that the mega-event will go ahead despite the pandemic.

“The IOC also seems to think that public opinion in Japan is not important,” she said. The comments by vice-president John Coates left her shocked.

When asked in May if the Games could be held even during a virus state of emergency, Coates had said “the answer is absolutely yes”.

But the government’s top medical adviser, Shigeru Omi, told lawmakers on Friday that the Games should not go ahead if the emergency measures are extended past their current end-date of June 20.

“We must absolutely avoid hosting the Olympics under a state of emergency,” he said.

As things stand, the Games will begin as planned on July 23. What type of Games sports fan around the world get to witness, however, remains to be seen.