Two days before the end of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, drew an extremely positive balance.

The games far exceeded his expectations, Bach told journalists and emphasized that the protective measures against the corona virus were effective.

He particularly praised the athletes who would have given the games without a spectator a soul under the conditions of the corona pandemic.

Patrick Welter

Correspondent for business and politics in Japan, based in Tokyo.

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After the decision to largely forego spectators for corona protection, he was concerned that games would be without a soul, said Bach.

"Fortunately, what we are seeing here is very different because the athletes have given these Olympics a great Olympic soul." Joy that the games could have taken place after all.

Olympia was postponed for a year after the outbreak of the corona pandemic last year.

Bach once again stated that the postponement was a decision made by the hosts.

The IOC could have lived financially with a refusal, stressed the IOC President, because it would then have resorted to insurers.

What role did the Olympics play in the spread of Corona?

In the pandemic, it was the mission and task of the IOC to make the Olympics safe in cooperation with the hosts, said Bach.

"All the figures confirm that the concept of the anti-corona measures worked." The organizers have registered 382 cases of infection among athletes and people involved in the games since the beginning of July.

The majority of this is accounted for by residents of Japan who work for the Games.

In the entry tests of the 42,500 Olympic guests, corona infections were found in less than 0.1 percent of the cases.

The cyclist Simon Geschke was one of the athletes who tested positive.

During the two Olympic weeks in Tokyo, the number of infections rose dramatically. The seven-day incidence rose from around 70 to around 190 infections per 100,000 population. One reason for this is the rapid advance of the delta variant of the coronavirus. Most recently, the number of daily infections in Tokyo exceeded 5,000. Concerns about a collapse of the health system are growing. Doctors in Japan and also the government's top corona advisor, Shigeru Omi, warn that the Olympic Games "may very well have an impact on people's consciousness" and that indirect effects could accelerate the increase in the number of infections in Japan.

Bach brusquely rejected such worries and any possible responsibility on the part of the IOC when asked by the FAZ.

“These indirect effects claims are pretty baseless.

I don't know any numbers to back it up, ”said the 67-year-old.

He could only refer to the statements of Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Tokyo's Governor Yuriko Koike, who had assured that there was no direct or indirect influence of the summer games on the corona situation in the capital.

No Hiroshima minute's silence during the games

Indirect effects mean that the awareness of the crisis is suffering and younger Japanese in particular are no longer paying so much attention to anti-virus measures because the Olympic Games with their numerous televised competitions radiated a greater feeling of normality. The fact is that in the capital's popular nightlife district there are more people out and about in the evening and at night than in previous virus emergencies and that the early curfew is no longer observed as strongly. At least in part, these changed behaviors also reflect a general corona fatigue.

Suga reiterated his assessment in Hiroshima on Friday that the Olympic Games in Tokyo would not have contributed to the further spread of the corona virus in the capital. Suga was in Hiroshima for the ceremony to commemorate the explosion of an American atomic bomb on August 6, 76 years ago. The IOC is harshly criticized in the city for not responding to the request for a minute of silence during the games.

Suga said that on Sunday, among the Japanese organizers and hosts, the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee will decide whether the Paralympic Games planned for later in August can take place with or without spectators. According to the current status, the capital Tokyo will still be subject to the virus emergency at least in the first days of the Paralympic Games.