Tokyo 2020: How were the Olympic Games saved from the coronavirus after the high infections in Japan?

The Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 reach their final stretch after having managed to avoid an outbreak of infections within the Olympic bubble that would put the competition at risk, but with open debate about its relationship with the record boom of the coronavirus throughout Japan.

The COVID-19 was the greatest organizational challenge facing the first Games in history in the midst of a pandemic, and according to the hosts and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Tokyo 2020 has managed to overcome it successfully.

Throughout the Japanese archipelago, infections have been on the rise since weeks before the sporting event and they have skyrocketed in recent days, which is attributed to the spread of the delta variant and, according to some health experts, to the celebration of the Games.

A parallel world in Tokyo 2020

The strict anti-contagion sanitary protocol, which included the strict restriction of the movements of the participants in the Games and their constant testing, prevented the occurrence of a single infection between those involved in the event and the local population or vice versa, according to data from the hosts.

Among the tens of thousands of athletes, committee representatives, journalists and other participants in the Games, 404 coronavirus infections have been detected since the beginning of July, including 29 athletes, and none with a serious condition.

In addition to being vaccinated 90% of them, the participants in Tokyo 2020 have undergone constant testing for the virus, most athletes, on a daily basis. Nearly 600,000 PCR tests have been performed, of which 0.02% yielded a positive result.

These data have shown “the effectiveness” of the strategy anti-COVID applied and have turned the interior of the Olympic bubble into “one of the communities most tested, most vaccinated and subjected to the strictest preventive measures in the world”, according to the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, said the day before.

The situation in the Olympic zone contrasts with that of all of Japan, where only 32% of the population has been vaccinated and in the last week there have been more than 15,000 daily infections, the maximum since the start of the pandemic, despite the health emergency declared in Tokyo and other regions.

The main advisor to the Japanese government in the fight against the virus, Dr. Shigeru Omi, has stated on several occasions that the celebration of the Games has affected the “Collective feeling” and caused a relaxation of the Japanese when it comes to respecting recommendations of the authorities such as staying home or avoiding family and friends gatherings.

Tokyo heat

The high temperatures and humidity, the usual summer, in Tokyo have been the other major headache during these Games, although they were a very predictable factor and had already forced the IOC to move the walking and marathon events to Sapporo (north).

Strong complaints from athletes, including the world’s number one tennis player, Novak Djokovic, or the Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza, were heard by the organizers to delay the schedules of the final tennis phase, after the also Spanish Paula Badosa had to withdraw from the tournament due to a heat stroke.

Schedules for other competitions such as the women’s soccer final or others such as the women’s marathon were also delayed due to the heat, announced only a few hours before on the eve of the event.

The Chief Executive Officer of Tokyo 2020, Hidemasa Nakamura, justified these last minute decisions by pointing out that the hosts “have tried to be flexible and adapt to circumstances”, in addition to “Listen to the voices of the athletes”, at a press conference this Saturday.

The kidnapping of the Belarusian athlete

The moment of greatest diplomatic tension in these Games occurred with the attempted forced repatriation of the Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who asked the Japanese police for help when her national committee tried to take her back to her country against her will.

The athlete, who feared reprisals for having criticized the regime of Alexandr Lukashenko, took refuge in the Embassy of Poland, a country that also granted her humanitarian asylum as it has done with other Belarusian exiles, while the IOC announced that it was opening an investigation into the case and Japan avoided getting involved.

The international sports body later decided to expel two Belarusian coaches from the Games for their role in what the athlete described as “attempted kidnapping” and did not rule out additional sanctions against the national committee of that country, led by Viktor Lukashenko, son of the president, and whose position is not recognized by the IOC.

The Games have passed without major shocks for the organizers, who also decided to sanction or give attention to athletes who broke the sanitary protocols to take walks around the city -something strictly prohibited- or to have parties within the Olympic Village city.