Tokyo insists Olympics will proceed

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga isn’t entertaining notions that the coming Tokyo Olympics will be scrapped or postponed or relocated or staged behind closed doors. The Games organizing committee is just as strong-willed in insisting the show will go on as scheduled on July 24-Aug. 9.

But while the presumption is the Olympics will proceed, the word is the IOC will meet in May to assess the coronavirus situation all over the world and decide whether or not to push through with the Summer Games. Billions of dollars could go down the drain if the Olympics are cancelled with broadcasters taking a heavy loss in throwing away air time blocked for the competitions. The athletes will be severely compromised. They’ve trained for years to perform on the Olympic stage and if there’s a cancellation, their condition will definitely not be the same in Paris in 2024. But if the risk of contamination is high, particularly as the Olympics will gather over 10,000 athletes, cancellation will be inevitable.  It makes no sense to put human lives in jeopardy, no matter how significant an event that will be derailed.

As for the Philippines’ preparations for the Olympics, the country’s chef de mission Nonong Araneta said it’s all systems go. “We have no official communication yet from IOC regarding a (possible) postponement of the Olympics,” said Araneta, concurrently the Philippine Football Federation president. “We are assuming it’s a go. As a matter of fact, one of our boxers Eumir Marcial recently made it to the Olympics in the qualifiers in Jordan.”

Araneta said late this month, the Games organizers are convening heads of National Olympic Committees for a status conference in Tokyo. POC president Rep. Bambol Tolentino is scheduled to attend for the country. “Nothing has changed as far as staging the Tokyo Olympics is concerned,” said Araneta. “What has changed is the schedule of some qualifiers like the 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in India. We still don’t know when the 3x3 qualifiers will be held. In taekwondo, the Asian Championships were to be held in Beirut this month and the Olympic qualifiers for Asia in Wuxi, China next month. Both have been postponed. So our taekwondo athletes may go to the world qualifiers ahead of the Asian qualifiers.”

Araneta said he has met with at least 14 NSAs with prospects of qualifying athletes for the Olympics. “We’re looking at probabilities to determine a budget,” he said. “President Duterte has allocated P100 million for the run-up. We’ve got P50 million from PSC to use. We’re hoping P150 million will be enough to get ready for the Olympics. Boxing has the biggest budget of P9 million. There is a world qualifying tournament in Paris in May, the last opportunity for boxers to advance to Tokyo.”

Araneta said the target is to qualify 20 Filipinos for Tokyo. So far, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Caloy Yulo and boxer Eumir Marcial are assured of Olympic tickets. Araneta said Dottie Ardina, Yuka Saso and Miguel Tabuena are in contention from golf. “They’re ranked among the top 60 in the world and 60 is the cutoff,” he said. “They’re out there now trying to improve their chances to qualify.” Judo’s Kiyomi Watanabe appears to be a shoo-in although there is still no official pronouncement of her entry. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, a silver medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics, is close to nailing a spot in Tokyo. The Asian and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist is aiming for a fourth Olympic appearance.

Karate has six candidates, including Junna Tsukii and Jaime Lim. Taekwondo has four candidates, including Pauline Lopez. Swimming’s candidates are SEA Games gold medalist James Deiparine, Remedy Rule, Luke Gebbie and Jasmine Alkhaldi. Skateboarder Margie Didal is another hot prospect.

“We’re asking NSAs with Olympic candidates to give us a report every two weeks on the progress of their athletes in training and in qualifying events,” said Araneta. “We’re planning to hold press briefings to update media on our Olympic prospects every two weeks or as soon as we get reports from NSAs.”

The Philippines made its Olympic debut in 1924 and has made 21 appearances in the quadrennial event, claiming 10 medals overall – zero gold, three silver and seven bronze. It is second in the world in most Olympic medals without a gold. First in the dubious category is Malaysia with 11 medals without a gold. Five of the Philippines’ 10 medals came from boxing.