After “sleepless nights”: No turning back at the Olympics

So the president once again allowed himself a lot of pathos at the start of the 138th session of the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday. The 67-year-old promised that the Olympics in Tokyo would “give people confidence in the future.” Bach hopes for “a powerful message to the world.”

For Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, despite the Corona emergency in Tokyo and the ongoing poll majorities against the games, there is now no turning back. The importance of the Games will “neither be burdened nor diminished” by the difficult circumstances, the head of government assured in his greeting to the IOC members. His health advisors don't think hosting the mega-spectacle with tens of thousands of foreigners is a good idea, but Suga is counting on the games' success.

The corona vaccinations, which have so far progressed slowly in Japan, have made a “way out of a long tunnel in sight,” the Prime Minister wrote and asserted: “We will protect the health and safety of the Japanese people.” No spectators in Tokyo For this reason, all spectators were excluded from the arenas in Tokyo. This is deeply regrettable, said organization boss Seiko Hashimoto. Only after the end of the Olympic Games should a decision be made as to whether at least some fans will be allowed in the stands at the Paralympics.

IOC boss Bach, however, believes in the power of images even with empty stadiums. Billions of people would watch the games and “admire what the Japanese have achieved,” said the Würzburger. IOC President Thomas Bach. © APA/afp / FABRICE COFFRINI

The organizers of the games have a long journey behind them. “None of us could have imagined the unprecedented challenges we had to face,” said Bach, referring to the Fukushima disaster and the consequences of the corona pandemic, which plunged Japan into crises since the Olympics were awarded in September 2013. Over the past few months, Bach has repeatedly invoked the solidarity of the Olympic world. At his suggestion, the session even changed the Olympic motto from “faster, higher, stronger” to “faster, higher, stronger – together”. Summer Games 2032 probably in Australia There will probably be little controversy regarding the most important decision of the IOC General Assembly on Wednesday. At the end of the session, Brisbane can firmly expect to be awarded the 2032 Summer Games, even if IOC spokesman Mark Adams assured that the matter was not yet over.

But the metropolis in the Australian state of Queensland is the preferred and therefore only applicant in the decision. The fact that a number of other interested parties, such as the German Rhine-Ruhr region, unexpectedly quickly fell by the wayside in the so-called “targeted dialogue” as a new award procedure, has brought criticism to the IOC.

The fact that the Australian IOC Vice President John Coates took the lead in developing the new procedure leaves at least an aftertaste - and the first winner is now, of all places, his home country. “There is no conflict of interest,” assured IOC spokesman Adams. Coates did not vote in any decision. However, independent reporters will not be able to follow the election on site on Wednesday. Due to the Corona rules, no journalists are allowed in the luxurious IOC hotel.

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After “sleepless nights”: No turning back at the Olympics

In the elegant banquet hall of the five-star “Okura” hotel, Thomas Bach reported on “sleepless nights”. After 16 months full of worries, the IOC boss and the Tokyo Olympic organizers are only a few hours away from the opening of the controversial Summer Games in Japan.

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