The last few days have seen a subtle but important shift in tone as Olympic leaders and Japanese officials discuss the upcoming 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
While insisting there is still time to make a decision, they have softened their language about pressing full-speed ahead and are beginning to talk about contingency plans.
During a Friday teleconference, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee executives acknowledged they are preparing for “a variety of outcomes” should the coronavirus pandemic force a change.
“In this time of extreme anxiety, many of us and certainly athletes are incredibly confused and facing an enormous amount of ambiguity as to what may come this summer,” chief executive Sarah Hirshland said.
The sentiment paralleled other comments emanating from around the Olympic movement as the July 24 Opening Ceremony in Tokyo draws nearer.
USA Swimming published a letter Friday afternoon urging the USOPC to “use its voice and speak up for the athletes” in supporting a one-year postponement.
This followed an interview in which IOC president Thomas Bach told the New York Times that, while canceling the Games is not on his agenda, he and his members are “not living in a bubble or on another planet.”
“We don’t know what the situation will be,” Bach was quoted as saying. “Of course, we are considering different scenarios, but we are contrary to many other sports organizations or professional leagues in that we are four-and-a-half months away from the Games.”
As a former Olympic fencer who missed the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow because of a multi-nation boycott, Bach has said he knows how badly athletes want to compete. He declined to elaborate on any of the contingencies being weighed, dismissing such talk as speculation.
Earlier in the week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seemed to leave the door open for postponement when stating that he wanted to “hold the Olympics and Paralympics perfectly.”
Hirshland put it another way: “This is and will likely continue to be a work in progress as the environment continues to evolve.”
The number of reported cases of COVID-19 had risen to more than 266,000 with more than 11,000 deaths worldwide as of Friday.
Five American athletes — all winter sports competitors — have been quarantined, said Dr. Jonathan Finnoff, the USOPC chief medical officer. Two developed symptoms and were tested; one test came back negative and the other is pending.
“We have a lot of procedures and guidelines in place,” Finnoff said.
Olympic qualification events have been postponed and canceled around the globe, leading to uncertainty about how national teams and the IOC will pick which athletes get to compete.
Training is another problem. Though Bach has repeatedly encouraged athletes to continue with their preparations, governments in many countries — as well as parts of the U.S. — have shuttered pools, gyms and tracks.
The USOPC has closed all but the living quarters at its training centers in Colorado and New York.
“First and foremost, we are clearly encouraging athletes to put their safety and the safety of the people in their community first and to follow the guidance of local health officials above and beyond everything else,” Hirshland said.
The response has been varied, she said, often depending on where athletes live in the U.S. On Thursday, swimmer Jacob Pebley pleaded for a postponement.
“How can we, members of Team USA and role models for hundreds of thousands of young athletes, attend Olympic Trials/the Olympics in good conscience?” he posted on social media. “To do so would fly in the face of all emerging evidence and best practices for social distancing and protecting the health of vulnerable communities.”
Others are eager to compete despite the circumstances.
“There are athletes out there for whom this feels like their only opportunity, their one chance,” Hirshland said.
