The Olympics has always been a global spectacle, attracting tourists from all over the world to witness this ancient sporting festival. The opportunity to host the Games is an honour for any country, with preparations beginning years in advance and billions of dollars of investment. The idea is not just to improve the sports infrastructure of the country, but to show the world with pride just how well an event of this nature can be organized.

For the Japanese, the upcoming Tokyo Olympics has undoubtedly been a costly affair. While there are the usual expenses associated with an event of this magnitude, the delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic has vastly inflated the costs of an already expensive sporting event. Add to the fact that there won’t be any fans in any events, minimal tourists due to the ongoing state of emergency and quasi-bubbles to encourage social distancing, it’s almost an apocalyptic state of affairs.

Most importantly, the Japanese citizens remain divided about their country playing host to such an event. Athletes from all over the world will be flying to the island nation with hopes to achieve glory, but doubts remain about the true cost of such an event. While precautions are being taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, there is always a risk of new variants that the largely unvaccinated Japanese population could get exposed to. There is an increased sense of distrust amongst the citizens regarding the Olympic Games, especially considering that 15,000 athletes and nearly 70,000 officials, media and personnel will be present in an already overpopulated Tokyo where the concept of social distancing in itself is laughable.

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The Japanese have traditionally been hospitable hosts, with a strict sense of rules, order and discipline. With the government announcing another emergency, there are doubts whether their visitors will follow the rules laid down by the government and be mindful about the safety of others. There is a resentment amongst a sizable unvaccinated population that the vaccinated visitors will have the liberty to enjoy more freedom than than the Japanese citizens, who are at a higher risk due to the government’s failure of a quick vaccine rollout.

With athletes making their way to Tokyo ahead of June 23rd, reports are already in about positive COVID-19 cases amongst athletes and staff. There is a sombre mood amongst event organizers, athletes and media and getting through the tournament unscathed will be as big an achievement, if not more than any gold medal.