Summer Olympics should be canceled because of the pandemic

The New York Times

Jules Boykoff, a former professional soccer player who studies the Olympics as a political scientist at Oregon's Pacific University, writes in a New York Times Op-Ed that the Tokyo Olympics are in big trouble with less than 2% of the Japanese population vaccinated. "For many spectators, what is most alluring about the Olympics is their audacious impracticality, with thousands of athletes from many sports coming together from around the world to compete in one place," Boykoff writes. "However, during a global public health crisis, this has potentially lethal consequences. It’s time to listen to science and halt the dangerous charade: The Tokyo Olympics must be canceled. And yet, the Olympic steamroller rumbles forward. There are three main reasons: money, money and money. And let’s be clear: Most of that money trickles up, not to athletes but to those who manage, broadcast and sponsor the Games. The I.O.C. reportedly holds about $1 billion in reserve, but the Summer Games are its go-to money spigot and not even the coronavirus has persuaded Olympic power brokers to winch it shut. The situation is crude but clear: Olympic organizers are not willing to sacrifice their profits for public health."