Tokyo (AFP)
Some silver lining? The postponement to 2021 of the Tokyo Olympic Games could give the organizers the opportunity to reschedule them earlier in the year and thus avoid the torrid Japanese summer.
By announcing that the Olympic Games 2020 will take place "after 2020 and at the latest in the summer of 2021" because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has opened the door to reprogramming the Olympic Games. summer ... before summer.
"All options are on the table, before and during the summer of 2021," insisted IOC President Thomas Bach.
Thus giving the organizers an opportunity to avoid what was immediately pointed out as the main pitfall of Tokyo-2020: the overwhelming humid heat of Japan in July-August.
The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, seems to have grasped the tense pole: "Since we are in this situation, an idea is for them (the IOC, note) to change the date for a less hot period," she said. asserted.
Way for the Japanese capital to recover the marathon and walking events, moved to Sapporo, 800 kilometers further north, after the fiasco of the World Athletics in the heat of Doha (Qatar).
The president of the Organizing Committee Yoshiro Mori also mentioned the possibility of planning the Olympics earlier in the year: "if we could avoid the hottest part of the summer, wouldn't that be good news ? "he asked a few minutes after the announcement of the postponement.
- "Puzzle" -
Still, possible spring Olympics would pose many problems in relation to the world sports calendar, said Marcus Luer, director of the company Total Sports Asia.
"The idea pleases me in general, April-May is a good time in Japan, it makes sense from this point of view", he said to AFP, while judging this possibility "too complicated" because of the timing issues.
The Olympic Games would thus come into conflict, first with the European football leagues, the outcome of which generally takes place in late May-early June. But also, in North America, with the NBA play-offs, from April to June.
"Placing the Olympic Games in the middle of the season will have a very strong impact on all competitions and could have a negative effect on the men's world championship in Egypt (in January 2021, editor's note) and even on handball at the Olympic Games" , expressed concern in a statement the European Handball Federation.
But organizing the Olympic Games on the same dates as usual, from mid-July to early August, also poses problems. Thomas Bach thus compared to a "puzzle" the necessary reorganization of the sports calendar.
- Savings -
The Olympic High Mass would then compete in the Worlds for its two major sports: athletics (August 6-15) and swimming (July 16-August 1).
Economically speaking, the organizers had planned large expenses to deal with the heat: anti-heat coatings on the ground, foggers and even artificial snow.
One of the few posts that would save money, while Tokyo-2020 has already admitted that the postponement would be very expensive.
"The additional expenses would probably be less if the Olympic Games were held in the spring rather than in the summer," AFP said a sports federation official on condition of anonymity.
Other federations are pushing for a postponement earlier in the year, especially since the Games were postponed in the name of the health of the athletes.
"Why not, let the IOC look at it again and choose dates that are better from a weather point of view," said Ingmar de Vos, president of the International Equestrian Federation.
In the IOC, the influential John Coates seems rather to lean to maintain the Olympics in summer, according to the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun. Before the announcement of the postponement, former marketing manager Michael Payne told AFP that the summer of 2021 was "the only option".
However, there are precedents: the last Tokyo Games in 1964 took place in October, as did the following ones, in Mexico City.
And the first editions of the Modern Games took place in the spring: Athens-1896, Paris-1900, London-1908 and Stockholm-1912 started in April. The Olympic Games in Saint-Louis-1904 were the first to open in July. But they had lasted ... until November.
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