The Olympics is a disaster

[fr4nkthetank]

-Take lots of people from every single country on the planet and fly them all to a single location, where you know they will "mingle" (olympics is a big party for athletes)
-The WHO (who have lost a lot of credibility) supports the games because sanitary measures are followed, ignoring the fact that its a big melting pot of people
-No obligation on vaccination, many athletes are not vaccinated and do not want to be because it may impact training and performance
-Incorporate the Delta variant in there which transmits the virus 2-3x faster
-Knowing these are mostly young and very healthy people, they will not get sick much but they will still transmit the virus

How in the world does anyone think its a good idea ?  Everyone then returns to their country of origin and spreads the new variants everywhere.  Its like a big SARS convention (covid-19 is a SARS virus, can be very serious depending on mutations, see original SARS virus in Hong Kong and Toronto)

We all know the Olympic Committee loves to accept bribes (see previous scandals) and the Japan economy kinda needs it, but now you know why 80% of people in Tokyo dont want the olympics.

If there is a major development with Covid this autumn/winter, history books will point to the olympics as the dumbest thing humanity has done.  I'm also not for closing the world down, far from it, we should embrace technology and remote work - including Bitcoin and cryptocurrency - for payments and wages across the globe.

Also its fine to go on vacation, but really, all inclusive resorts and cruises ?  Thats also a dumb terrible idea.  People want to go back to "normal".  There is no normal to go back to.  There is only adaptation and mitigation.

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[suchmoon]

We all know the Olympic Committee loves to accept bribes (see previous scandals) and the Japan economy kinda needs it, but now you know why 80% of people in Tokyo dont want the olympics.

I haven't really followed it closely but it seems like a waste of money and unlikely to help Japan's economy. I mean all recent Olympic games have been wasteful but in this case they don't even have the benefit of tourism to offset the cost.

I'm not sure if the games will have much of an impact on COVID-19 spread. With no fans and with aggressive testing/quarantines for athletes they might be able to get away with it.

[franky1]

athletes were quarantined pre-games and post-games
there is no "athlete aftergame party"
its back to the hotel room get swabbed for a few days before being allowed back on plane home

there is more chance of catching covid on the plane home than at the olympic stadium

..
that said. companies like cocacola who always sell millions of bottles at previous olympics. are not going to be making millions of dollars this year
instead they are paying out millions to have their logo showing around the stadium so that they can get viewed by viewers watching games on TV. hoping that turns into added world wide general sells

japan is not getting any revenue from tickets..
japan is getting TV licencing fees/deals

japan is left with alot of japanese themed olympic merchandise stock
stock thats not been sold at concessions stands/kiosks at the stadium
this will all end up on ebay sold cheap as memorabilia.. of a tv show some watched and not of real life experience anyone felt. so sold cheap and not all sold

[Kontibruno]

One problem that is reoccurring in this world is that our leaders in all spheres pretend that they have the interest of the people at hand. But when it is time for big decisions to be made, they chicken out. This is more pronounced when a financial loss is involved. Japanese economy needs to recoup some of the heavy investments made. IOC also needs to satisfy their corporate sponsors to be able to pocket the money they've been paid. It is really unfortunate.

[OgNasty]

I haven't even seen any of the Olympics this year.  Perhaps the time difference is a bit more than I'm used to, but I'm not even seeing highlights on my favorite sporting shows.  Other than a few clips on Twitter, I wouldn't know the Olympics is happening.  This seems to just be a continuation of a downward trend made worse by Covid.  I can't help but think at some point the Olympic games will be attacked for being something that separates humanity instead of unites us with the way things are going.  I'm honestly surprised that liberals haven't taken the stance that the entire Olympic games is racist and should be boycotted.

[otrkid1970]

I wouldn't watch a single second of the Olympics when our LOSER athletes disrespect the flag of our country for the lousy terrorist organization blm. Fuck the olympics,NBA,NFL. I wouldnt support these commie bstards.

[ARTURVH]

It is a ridiculous decision to hold the Olympic Games at a time when the epidemic is so severe. This is irresponsible for life. And it seriously violates the spirit of Olympic sports.

[Xinarae*]

The tokyo olympics were postponed by a year due to the corona epidemic leaders of many countries have decided not to travel to japan as the corona infection has not yet been brought under control the only exception to this list is french president emmanuel macho. The is coming to japan as the president of france the host country of the olympics china has said that president Xi Jinping will not attend the tokyo olympics because the coronavirus infection in japan is not under control.

[Cnut237]

We all know the Olympic Committee loves to accept bribes (see previous scandals) and the Japan economy kinda needs it, but now you know why 80% of people in Tokyo dont want the olympics.

I haven't really followed it closely but it seems like a waste of money and unlikely to help Japan's economy. I mean all recent Olympic games have been wasteful but in this case they don't even have the benefit of tourism to offset the cost.

I'm not sure if the games will have much of an impact on COVID-19 spread. With no fans and with aggressive testing/quarantines for athletes they might be able to get away with it.

I suppose the issue is that it's planned so far in advance. Almost all of the vast amount of money involved in hosting the games is spent well in advance of the event itself. This being the case, there is little to lose financially with going ahead rather than cancelling at the last minute. Economically there is nothing to lose now.

The big issue obviously is the virus, and the low vaccination rate in Japan. Hopefully it won't make the situation any worse.

[fr4nkthetank]

Yeah I do agree skateboarding, surfing was fun to watch but a bit underwhelming compared to X games or other international competitions.  But this isnt about sports, or how people worked hard for 5 years (its just sports after all to be honest) its about the SRAS-2 Virus which causes the covid-19 disease.

We now have 2848 new cases in Tokyo alone, just for today, sharp increase.  3000 Hospitalized.
153 total Cases related to athletes or Olympic personnel

Still a bit worrying

[acroman08]

I wouldn't watch a single second of the Olympics when our LOSER athletes disrespect the flag of our country for the lousy terrorist organization blm. Fuck the olympics,NBA,NFL. I wouldnt support these commie bstards.

the United States sent 613 athletes to the Olympics, did all of those athletes disrespected the flag? blindly hating on someone or a group of people because some of them disrespected the US flag is just plain stupid.

[jrrsparkles]

Even though there is no specators or not much of them still their online streaming rights is going to make enough money for the economy and also people may want it since they lack entertainment and various restrictions due to covid 19. Save yourselves from others and don't worry even if you're infected its just another virus which has very less mortality rate even now.

[LTU_btc]

So, what you're offering? Cancel Olympics again? Even with vaccines, virus is here to stay and we will have to live with it. Cancelling events and closing down everything isn't solution anymore as it was last year.
Also, there is lot of precautions made. Intensive testing, no spectators, athletes live in the "bubble" and can't interact with each other like they did in all previous Olympics. Yes, some still will get infected, but it's just pot in the sea and it's not likely that it will spread outside Olympic bubble. Also, I think that athletes after Olympics at arrival at home country will have to make test.
This summer we had EURO 2020 with full stadiums and nothing terrible didn't happened after it. Some will say, look at number of Covid cases in England. But number of cases isn't most important thing. Main thing is number of hospitalised people and number of deaths, which isn't big because of vaccination.

[fr4nkthetank]

I mean, I can agree with that.  I started the thread with a strong statement indeed

[NathanielParker]

I don't understand why the Olympics should be held in this environment, but I am very concerned about the Olympics because my country is also participating. I think the Tokyo Olympics are very bad. Athletes of every country make big mistakes in competitions, which is very annoying. There are no spectators around, only a tense atmosphere. In Japan, they did not take the infected seriously, just let them self-isolate. I hope that everyone who participates in the competition can return home safely.

[mu_enrico]

They are athletes, the top of the very top of healthy people. The virus won't be able to kill them!
If there's no crowd or protesters, I don't think the olympics will become a new hot spot as long as they take the required measures, including quarantine and stuff.
People should start to reopen everything before the chance to go bankrupt, mental problem, etc., go beyond the risk of covid (which is already slim).

[Shamm]

   Being an athlete you will take time in practice and sometimes they will attempt in accident an surgery before they under go in final stage. Their practice is not an easy and they always check thier physical vital if they are physical fit to perform in the stage. In Olympic game is not just a simple game to execute in the stage a lot of athlete that our opponent that came from  different countries an we can socialize them all an we can not assure if were be the luckiest winner can perform and compete the other opponent.

[nutildah]

I thought this was particularly cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7BdqAPSGhI

Women's BMX. It's no X-Games but its still pretty neat. Wish I could do a front-flip. I think it would be fun to just slowly ride around over that course... I'd try to keep my speed controlled like a granny because I hate pain, but reckon it'd still be pretty fun.

[DireWolfM14]

I thought this was particularly cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7BdqAPSGhI

Women's BMX. It's no X-Games but its still pretty neat. Wish I could do a front-flip. I think it would be fun to just slowly ride around over that course... I'd try to keep my speed controlled like a granny because I hate pain, but reckon it'd still be pretty fun.

That was an awesome run by Charlotte Worthington, the British young lady.  Her 360 back flip was very impressive, and the front flip was flawless.

I agree with you about the Women's beach volleyball participants, they are amazingly beautiful and freakishly tall.  That's been my favorite competition of the Olympics so far.   

[DaveF]

I thought this was particularly cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7BdqAPSGhI

Women's BMX. It's no X-Games but its still pretty neat. Wish I could do a front-flip. I think it would be fun to just slowly ride around over that course... I'd try to keep my speed controlled like a granny because I hate pain, but reckon it'd still be pretty fun.

My spine hurts just watching that. And it brings back a bit of nostalgia for my youth. Although there is no way in hell I would have ever been able to do any of that, I was always the idiot who tried. And I have the scars and some pains 40 years later to prove I was an idiot.

-Dave

[Slow death]

I haven't even seen any of the Olympics this year.

 

I think you didn't miss much, it's a disaster and I don't understand why they insisted so much on doing it at this time when the covid is having many cases a day and the African countries are far from having at least vaccinated 5% of the population


I could see that greed was higher in this case, they forgot the virus and focused on the money, and the quality of the athletes is very low because many were stopped without competing for a long time, an example is the athletes from my country who didn't even make it to be in the top 10 of each competition, it was a shame and I don't even know what they were doing in japan

[Jazmin Leslie]

1. This is true. In many cases, interests are involved. Some people will always strike a balance between pros and cons. It is impossible for them not to consider how much damage the epidemic would cause to athletes, but they still chose to bear it and did not cancel it.So in the end, gaining benefits is more worthy of their risk than the outbreak.

2. Vaccines are not capable of defending against all viruses. If the virus mutates, can the vaccines we have ever used kill the mutated virus?

3.Hundreds of athletes from each country play games, and if they are infected, they may never have a chance to stand on the field again.
Some people have waited for this opportunity throughout their lives.Such a situation should be regarded as unlucky for the athletes themselves, or they should be praised and praised by their lives to promote the Olympic spirit.

[Alfreed]

This year, the participants in the Olympic Games have a particularly difficult time. there are no spectators, and even today I heard about the scandal with the Belarusian sportswoman, whom they wanted to forcibly take out of the country. Belarus is like North Korea with a sick dictator in power. sport should be outside of politics. but this rule is very often violated

[Gyfts]

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2021/8/2/best-moment-of-tokyo-2020-world-reacts-to-shared-olympic-gold

What a wholesome moment, two olympians share the Olympic gold medal in the high jump event.

Another story that caught my attention was this - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/krystsina-tsimanouskaya-belarus-olympics-seeks-asylum/

Belarus obviously has a ton of problems governmentally, this olympian is seeking asylum and she was taken to a Polish embassy in Tokyo where she was granted asylum in Poland after refusing a forced flight home. She criticized the government and feared she would be killed for doing so. Good for her.

[Mauser]

If there is a major development with Covid this autumn/winter, history books will point to the olympics as the dumbest thing humanity has done.  I'm also not for closing the world down, far from it, we should embrace technology and remote work - including Bitcoin and cryptocurrency - for payments and wages across the globe.

Also its fine to go on vacation, but really, all inclusive resorts and cruises ?  Thats also a dumb terrible idea.  People want to go back to "normal".  There is no normal to go back to.  There is only adaptation and mitigation.

The problem is that most people were convinced to take the corona vaccine so that we can go back to a normal life. If after all the vaccination this year now the politicans would say that we need more lockdowns we would see a lot of more riots than we already see now. The Euro 2020 and the Olympic 2020 games are a way to show the world that we are going back to a normal way of life. Let's see how the long term effects are going to be. While Euro 2020 was with fans in the stadiums the Olympic games are very empty now.

[famososMuertos]

It is a breaking point that we live in the middle in many aspects, social, economic, political, health, that also leaves opinions on both sides.

So last year that break had more consensus to paralyze everything and all the parties agreed almost entirely, so there is no reason to scandalize the Olympics as a disaster, the benefits with the realization of these games are also important, which not only involve Japan this is an event of magnitude that involves the world.

[BlackPinker]

I saw an interesting saying before: The 40-year Olympic Curse:

• The 1900 Paris Olympic Games and the World Exposition were held together. Therefore, the Olympic Games are not taken seriously. The entire Olympic Games lasted for half a year and were called the Marathon Olympics.
• In 1940, the Tokyo Olympics. It was cancelled because Japan launched a war. Change to Helsinki, Finland（It seems that it is also the location of the server where Bitcoin dug the genesis block）
• In 1980, the Moscow Olympics, the former Soviet Union built the site with all its strength. Reluctantly because the former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, it was boycotted by the United States and other countries. So only 80 countries participated
• 2020The COVID-19 outbreak. So the Olympics are affected again

If anyone knows the source of the article please remind me.

[Macadonian]

Why do people watch the olympics? People who have never been interested in these sports before but suddendly become interested when its on the olympics? I think its because governments shove it down our throats.

[Renampun]

...

Olympics are held or not, covid 19 will not stop and will continue to spread...

The Tokyo Olympics cannot continue to be postponed because many European countries are ready to replace it. European countries have successfully held the euro with great crowds but nothing created new panic. Tokyo Olympics is coming to an end and it looks like athletes have to prepare for the next 4 years.

[verita1]

I feel your concern about Covid19 and the new variants that have emerged. Many of us are fearful of the Delta variant.
But I think the organizers had to study the conditions to be able to hold the Tokyo Olympics.
The security measures and their protocols to avoid contagion were taken. If the conditions were correct, humanity cannot be in a bubble, it has to come into contact with the virus and be protected so that they can respond with their immune systems.

My thinking is on the side of science, our best weapon against Covid19 is to follow biosecurity protocols and vaccination because there is no hope that the virus will be eradicated soon.

I only wish that the celebration of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was not a mistake due to all the fears that may arise.

"There will not be a single point where the pandemic ends; it will just transition, and has partially transitioned in states in which cases have been decoupled from hospitalizations," said @ JHSPH_CHS's @AmeshAA.

https://twitter.com/JohnsHopkinsSPH/status/1422939146788683786?s=19

[usernameyaya]

Yes, it turns out that some athletes have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus. This is a red flag. Regardless of the preciousness of life, what is the meaning of hosting the Olympics?

[virasog]

We all know the Olympic Committee loves to accept bribes (see previous scandals) and the Japan economy kinda needs it, but now you know why 80% of people in Tokyo dont want the olympics.

I haven't really followed it closely but it seems like a waste of money and unlikely to help Japan's economy. I mean all recent Olympic games have been wasteful but in this case they don't even have the benefit of tourism to offset the cost.

I'm not sure if the games will have much of an impact on COVID-19 spread. With no fans and with aggressive testing/quarantines for athletes they might be able to get away with it.

Even with all these things, the authorities had to conduct the tornament. They can't delay it further because in 3 years time 2024, we have the next Olympics.
Japan may not have collected money from tourism or crowds but there is a lot of sponsorship these days. We cannot say that Japan did not earn any money by conducting the Olympics.
When we can have Euro 2020 and other sports in these times then why not Olympics ?