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Comment by mhh__ | Hacker News Reader

Had to happen: If they tried to have it, there would have been no crowd and all the athletes would get it like wildfire (The Olympic Village has a lot of Tinder activity, at least).

That doesn't even account for the sad reality that some athletes can't go due to the virus (already). At least three of the South Korean Fencing team (Very likely medal contenders) are confirmed positive, for example.

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not to mention that Canada and Australia have already said they wouldn't attend anyway. It basically forced their hand. Same thing happened with NCAA March Madness. They kept trying to figure out how they could still hold the tournament and then Duke and Kansas said they were dropping out. And that was the end of that.

The NBA was moving towards crowdless games and as soon as single player got sick they shut it down. Which was later followed by NCAA and a bunch of other major sports leagues.

Technically the first major sports player in a similar league was a soccer player in Europe, but it took a (European) player in America for it to really take hold.

> If they tried to have it, there would have been no crowd

I'd be more concerned that there would be a crowd and that it would greatly affect Japan's population given how a significant proportion are elderly.

Wouldn't the fencing team have recovered fully by this summer?

There was at least another olympian who tested positive that said he has had extreme fatigue even weeks later and he has lost a lot of strength.

A lot of constant training required to be an olympian.

Not really sure. There seems to be evidence that symptomatic cases have long term effects on lung capacity.

They all train every day, so I think even a month out would fuck up their preparation. Especially if they give their coach COVID.

At the Olympic level, missing multiple weeks of training in the ~year before competition probably eliminates you from medal contention.

Call it greed. They should have canceled a month ago. Same for any other sporting events.

Others cancelled what was supposed to be happening now. The Olympics were still in the future. It seemed reasonable to wait until there is sufficient evidence that things won't be back to normal by then.

They were playing chicken with insurance. Whichever side cancelled would have not get insurance coverage for their costs.

For an event that is not happening until July and cost more than ALL the other sporting event combined, I say it is not greed but sensible.

Stupid question: Couldn't they still have held it, but athletes/coaches/refs only, no spectators present, and no competitions involving physical contact?

One of the major reasons for hosting the Olympics is tourism, so without an audience, it's just a very expensive show to put on.

No: Athletes can't effectively train right now, and the coaches/refs/athletes would all spread the virus among themselves. Japan may or may not be able to deal with that, but who wants to go traveling abroad in the aftermath of a major global pandemic? Athletes also have family, grandparents etc that may be experiencing the virus themselves or the cause of a funeral. How psyched would those athletes be to participate in the games when their granny is being buried back home? Would you enjoy watching half-hearted competition among athletes not at the top of their game?

The fact it took this long to cancel in the face of an obvious global situation is a bit shameful.

It would be novel to see a bunch of flabby athletes trying to catch their breath during different events. Could add events like doing a cannonball into the pool, seeing who can jiggle their flab the longest, or anything else for which Homer Simpson would be a medal contender. Truth be told, they probably look more amazing as sedentary couch potatoes than I would in peak physical condition.

And they can't even train in their country

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