The Tokyo Olympics will take place without spectators, the Japanese government announced Thursday, the organizers having resolved to the decision due to the state of health emergency established in the capital of Japan in the face of the resumption of the epidemic by Covid-19
This is a first in the history of the Olympics which Japan would have done well. The Olympic Games will take place from July 23 to August 8 behind closed doors on the sites of Tokyo, due to the resurgence of the coronavirus in the Japanese capital, announced Thursday, July 8, the Minister of the Olympics, Tamayo Marukawa. “We have agreed that there will be no spectators at the venues in Tokyo,” Tamayo Marukawa said after a meeting with all stakeholders at the Olympics, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Most of the Olympic venues are located in the Japanese capital, but some events are taking place in other departments, which will also take “concrete measures” in conjunction with the organizers, added Tamayo Marukawa.
Nothing was spared at these Tokyo Olympics: from their postponement of one year last year to the renunciation in March of this year to spectators coming from abroad, a decision unprecedented in the history of the Olympics there too.
This announcement comes a few hours after the decision of the Japanese government to reinstate a state of health emergency in Tokyo from Monday until August 22, a device that will thus encompass the entire period of the Olympics, while the city is currently listing around 900 cases of Covid-19 per day.
Threat of the Delta variant
“I think we can safely organize the Games thanks to these measures,” Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said earlier today.
“We must strengthen measures to prevent infections from spreading again throughout Japan, given the impact of the new variants“, added Yoshihide Suga, while the Delta variant, more contagious, would now represent around 30 % of cases in Japan.
“We will support all the measures that allow the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be safe for the Japanese and for the participants“, also explained at the beginning of the evening the President of the IOC, Thomas Bach, who arrived in Japan on Thursday but was obliged to ‘observe a three-day quarantine.
Tokyo-2020 President Seiko Hashimoto, for her part, said that “the Tokyo Olympics should be a rare opportunity to feel the power of sport in stadiums full of supporters. But we are facing an expansion of coronavirus cases. . It is extremely regrettable that we are forced to organize this event in such a limited way. “
In Japan, state of emergency measures are much less stringent than lockdowns imposed elsewhere in the world, limiting the sale of alcohol and forcing bars and restaurants to close earlier. There are also restrictions on the number of spectators at cultural and sporting events.
Draconian measures for athletes
Last month, the organizers of the Olympics decided to allow local spectators to 50% of the capacity of a site, with a ceiling of 10,000 people. But they had predicted that these restrictions could be tightened, until a closed door, if the health situation worsens again in Japan.
Some 11,000 athletes are expected in Tokyo, where draconian anti-Covid measures have been imposed on all participants. While the Japanese archipelago has been relatively spared so far by the Covid-19 pandemic, with around 14,900 officially recorded deaths since early 2020, its vaccination program only accelerated from May. Just over 15% of the population has been fully vaccinated so far, and experts fear the Delta variant could cause a new wave that could overwhelm hospitals in Japan, which has already seen three states of emergency since l ‘last year.
The Olympic torch relay, which has been banned on public roads in most of Japan, will also take place behind closed doors from Friday in the capital, where very limited ceremonies are scheduled until the Games instead. Tuesday, the organizers of the Olympics had already announced that they would ask the public to “abstain” from attending the marathon and walking events, organized in Sapporo (northern Japan).
For the record, 11,000 athletes are expected at the Tokyo Olympics. Among them, 12 Cameroonians who are already in Japan for an acclimatization course.
Here is the list:
Athletics: Emmanuel Eseme (200 m)
Wrestling: Emilienne Essombe Tiako (53 kg)
Table tennis: Sarah Hanffou
Judo: Arrey Sophina (-70 kg) and Vanessa Mballa (+78 kg)
Swimming (50 m free): Yves Charly Ndjoume and Elisabeth Milanesi
Boxing: Wilfried Seyi (+71 kg), Albert Mengue Ayissi (-69 kg) and Maxime Yegnong (+91 kg)
Weightlifting: Jeanne G. Eyenga (76 kg) and Clémentine Meukeugni (87 Kg)
