By Nick Giongco
The rescheduled Tokyo Olympics could still proceed in the absence of a vaccine for COVID-19 as long as an advancement is met by next year, a long-time official of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday.
Frank Elizalde, who served as IOC representative to the Philippines from 1985 until 2012, said that even without a vaccine the Tokyo Games can be staged provided that “some kind of a (significant) decrease in cases in the world.”
“It’ll be very hard (to proceed)…you have to be prepared with things you’d never done before,” said Elizalde, who remains with the IOC as an honorary member.
“The situation is very complicated,” said Elizalde, stressing that the IOC and Japanese Olympic organizers are also dealing with “pre-Games events like the qualifying tournaments.”
“It’s a totally new experience for us,” said the 87-year-old Harvard-educated businessman.
The Tokyo Olympics ‒ originally scheduled July 24-Aug. 9- was postponed last March owing to the pandemic.
The new date is July 23-Aug. 8 and Elizalde admits even the one-year delay is not an assurance that it’s taking place.
“A lot of things to consider like spectators because you can’t have an Olympics that don’t have spectators. There has to be spectators even if they won’t be seated right next to each other.”
As to the mindset of the Filipino athletes ‒ four of whom have qualified ‒ and several others on the cusp of making the Olympic grade, Elizalde has one piece of advice, something that isn’t actually fresh and new.
“Just keep training,” he said.
After all, the IOC seems to have added a secondary motto to the Olympic Games.
“Stay healthy, stat strong and stay active,” said Elizalde, whose position as IOC representative was assumed by Mikee Cojuangco following his retirement.
