The news Sunday about what is really what did not come from Lausanne, where the International Olympic Committee said there is now a four-week window to decide whether the Tokyo Olympic Games would start as scheduled on July 24 (in our world all things are possible until they are not) or things will instead shift to some sort of a Plan B (hello).
The hard news instead came from Monaco, and World Athletics.
In two pieces, World Athletics, formerly the IAAF, made it crystal clear that, barring a miracle in public health circles, the figurative train has already left the station, and the only question about Plan B is — when?
Sebastian Coe, left, and Thomas Bach touring a track and field history display at a Doha, Qatar, mall at last year’s IAAF world championships // Getty Images
First, in a news release, the international track and field federation said, “World Athletics welcomes discussions with the IOC to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and wrote to the IOC earlier today to relay this feedback from its Area Presidents, Council and athletes. We stand ready to work with the IOC and all sport on an alternative date.”
That release goes well beyond the IOC statement. Though kudos to the IOC president, Thomas Bach, for humility and empathy for these words:
“Human lives take precedence over everything, including the staging of the Games. The IOC wants to be part of the solution. Therefore we have made it our leading principle to safeguard the health of everyone involved, and to contribute to containing the virus. I wish, and we all are working for this, that the hope so many athletes, NOCs and IFs,” meaning national Olympic committees and international sports federations, “from all five continents have expressed will be fulfilled: that at the end of this dark tunnel we are all going through together, not knowing how long it is, the Olympic flame will be a light at the end of this tunnel.”
That letter the World Athletics release refers to? Here it is.
The key takeaway:
Seb Coe, the World Athletics president, told Bach that “an Olympic Games in July this year is neither feasible nor desirable.”
Coe is not — repeat, not — an IOC member. He and the athletics federation have taken a far more directly confrontational approach with the Russians over the long-running doping matter than has the IOC.
All the same, Coe and Bach have known each other for some 40 years, and in the realm of sports politics have been peers since the Baden-Baden IOC session in 1981. It’s no accident that the letter is addressed not just to “Dear President Bach” but, as well, “Dear Thomas.”
Beyond, Coe served as chief executive of the London 2012 Games. He knows — again, he knows — what it takes to run an Olympics. For him to ask for a postponement — that’s everything.
So now the only question, again, is — when?
Answer: unclear. Fall 2020? 2021? Beyond?
Why? Because the IOC has to get with the Japanese, in particular Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and figure out many moving parts.
There are many layers of complexities — sponsors, hotel rooms, calendars for 33 sports, some of which Bach alludes to in a separate, related letter sent Sunday to those athletes already qualified for the Games and those seeking yet to make it.
But the real issue is Abe. Plan B, whatever it is, has to leave Abe — and Japan — whole. It’s a matter of saving face, and value, for Japan, which is $12 billion (officially) into the Games, $25 billion and maybe more (depending on the math). Otherwise, Plan B, whatever it is, is DOA.
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With the IOC decision seemingly now on pause for four weeks, we turn back here within the borders of these 50 states to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, and ask:
On the grounds that this thing might — say, might — turn around and the Tokyo Olympics open on schedule on July 24, what outreach has the USOPC done, or is it doing — what efforts is it undertaking or has it undertaken — to help even one athlete train, or one national governing body effect good or better performance for potential or already-qualified athletes?
That is, right now. In the midst of this.
A bit on the TeamUSA.org website features 17 athletes and the ingenuity of their stay-at-home workout routines. Cute!
Here, meanwhile, are the first lines of the USOPC response to the USA Swimming letter a few days ago, and if you find any indication of USOPC action in here, please advise:
"The USOPC has complete and total empathy for the athlete community as they manage the terrible stress and anxiety caused by the current lack of certitude regarding the Tokyo Games. We understand that the athletes have concerns about training, qualification and anti-doping controls, and that they want transparency, communication and clarity to the full extent possible. The USOPC has made it clear that all athletes should put their health and wellness, and the health and wellness of the greater community, above all else at this unprecedented moment.”
We can all argue about appropriate divisions of authority between the 50 national governing bodies and the USOPC. Indeed, this is a central issue relating to the legacy of and fallout from the Nassar matter. But, wait — isn’t one of the contentions of those who are most aggrieved about the conduct of what was then called the USOC that its officials didn’t do more?
And — now?
If this was the after-action report, wouldn’t a reasonable line of inquiry to the USOPC be: Did you lift a figurative finger to help find a private club or college or someplace? Did you do something? Anything? If not, why not?
On Sunday afternoon, a two-paragraph statement was released that was attributed to both USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland and Athletes’ Advisory Council chair Han Xiao. The last paragraph:
“Every day counts. We remain steadfast in our recommendation that Team USA athletes continue to heed the advice of public health officials and prioritize their health and wellness over all else. At the same time we are eager to continue to explore alternatives to ensure all athletes have a robust and fulfilling Olympic and Paralympic experience, regardless of when that can safely occur. Together we will find solutions that keep the spirit of the Games alive.”
OK, but what solutions? What action? Now? To have a “robust and fulfilling” experience — um, from the department of the obvious, you have to get there. Isn’t it reasonable to expect the USOPC to help? To step up, in some significant fashion? Especially now?
At the risk of invoking the president of the United States (yes, yes, we know) — the president stands at the lectern and says, to paraphrase, CEOs and companies have come forward and they are incredibly helpful.
Shouldn’t the USOPC be thinking similarly? Doesn’t it have a lot of friends in a lot of high places in many if not all 50 states?
Not talking about the government here. Again, the USOPC has — or should have — a lot of friends.
And, yes, California, Illinois and New York are essentially locked down. Understood. That still leaves a lot of the United States. If you were, for instance, 29-year-old Angelica Delgado, a Rio 2016 Olympian just barely getting by in South Florida, and you had won a bronze medal at the Düsseldorf stop of the International Judo Federation’s tour just last month, and you had a legitimate shot at a medal if the Games actually go on — wouldn’t you want the USOPC to, you know, check in on you and maybe see if you could use some help?
Multiply that case by dozens if not hundreds more. The USOPC now has four weeks. As Sunday’s statement said — every day counts.