Arthur Solomon

After more than a year of warnings from medical scientists that the Summer Olympic games in Tokyo has the potential of making the Covid-19 pandemic worse, after more than a year of protests by Japanese citizens that holding the Olympics endangered their population and after a year’s delay Tokyo 2020 officially commenced on July 23, 2021, despite the city being under its fourth state of emergency in its effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus exceeding 1000 cases a day.

As an old Olympic hand, I have been involved on the sponsor side as well as organizing committees. I have also been an advisor to the highest levels of several country’s Olympic hierarchies, and/or government officials involved in the Olympics, as well as being a media trouble shooter during the games at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, where I was the key person managing media relations at the Main Press Center. I also played a major role in the 1984 L.A. games, as well as being involved in other Olympic games.  In addition, I have also lectured on media relations at an IOC media conference. 

I believe that the Olympics is the most important of all sports events because it brings together athletes from around the world and also introduces televisions audiences to different cultures.

Saying that, the International Olympic Committee, the organization that decides which city will host their games, is certainly not above reproach. In fact, the IOC deserves criticism for insisting that the Tokyo games should go on despite multiple warnings from health officials for more than a year that the games can be a major Covid spreader.  The IOC paid no attention to Japanese health and government officials and citizens who asked that the games be canceled or delayed for another year. That the IOC refused to do so is not a surprise. It has a long history of insisting that its games are more important than current events.

The problem with the IOC, as I see it, is not with its games, which celebrate great athletic performances, but with its ignoring reality by insisting that the Olympics can bring people and countries together, a fantasy that only members of the IOC might believe. And I stress the word “might.” (More realistic is the reality that IOC needs money from televisions rights and sponsors to survive.)

A positive aspect of an Olympics is that it provides an opportunity for great athletes in niche sports to receive the sporting world spotlight that they would not have received if not for the games. But there are too many negative facets of the IOC’s decisions that override those athletes’ feats.

In addition to the controversy regarding holding the Olympics under the cloud of Covid-19, there have been many other edicts by the IOC that deserve condemnation, above all awarding its games to totalitarian countries that use them as public relations vehicles.

The next time a totalitarian country hosts an Olympics will be early next year, after the conclusion on August 8 of the Tokyo games, when the world’s athletes, or at least some of them, convene in Beijing on February 4, 2022.  Sadly, the Asian totalitarian country is not the only of its ilk to “welcome the world.” Previous dictatorial countries that were awarded the IOC propaganda vehicle were Germany, summer and winter games in 1936; Russia in 1980 and 2014; Yugoslavia in 1984; China in 2008 and the upcoming 2022 games in Beijing.

Surely an athletic event that celebrates great athletic achievements should also celebrate the rights and freedom of citizens before awarding its games to a country. 

On July 21, the IOC awarded its 2032 games to Brisbane, Australia. But it would take the combined efforts of American television networks and sports marketers to prevent the IOC from again awarding its future games to dictatorial-run countries. And that’s unlikely to happen.

The awarding of the Olympics to a city in a democratically-run country is the good news. The bad news is that the Tokyo games have now commenced despite the upsurge of Covid-19 infections, warnings from medical scientists that the games can help spread the disease and the protests against holding them by Japanese medical officials and the public, which according to polls are overwhelmingly against the games.

More than 80% of Japanese citizens wanted the games cancelled or postponed, according to a poll by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, which also called for the event to be cancelled, even though it is an official partner of the games. Another poll by NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on July 14, said that more than two-thirds of those polled were concerned about the spread of Covid-19 variants, and only 22 percent of people in Tokyo said they expected to enjoy the games. Even in the United States only 52 percent of those polled believed that the games should happen, according to a New York Times story on July 18.

Now that the games have commenced sponsors are worried about not getting the positive exposure they bargained for when they signed on, and television networks are concerned that because of Covid-19 they might not get the audience they hoped for because their broadcasts will not have the excitement generated by large crowds cheering on the athletes. 

While the IOC seems unconcerned by the lack of public support in Japan for the games, sponsors are not. Despite being a top tier sponsor, Toyota will not air any Olympic-related TV advertisements in Japan because of health officials and citizens’ concerns. 

Not having a crystal ball, I can’t predict how many medals each country will win during the competition. But I can be prescient about one Olympic aspect: The protests against the Tokyo games will pale in comparison to those regarding the 2022 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, in Beijing, China. (The protests by U.S. senators, representatives and human rights organizations began months ago.)

While the IOC is hoping that athletes will live up to its motto –  Faster - Higher – Stronger, medical scientists around the world are concerned about the inability to control the coronavirus and the death toll from Covid-19, as of July 23, the day before this column was written, was  4,143,105, John Hopkins reported. The Japan Times reported that Tokyo had “1,359 new COVID-19 cases on Friday as the Olympic Games were set to kick off with the opening ceremony.”

But the IOC and Japanese government weren’t alone in receiving negative press coverage for allowing the games to proceed. A day before the official opening of the games, two Tokyo 2020 Olympic officials were fired or resigned: The creative director of the Opening Ceremonies was dismissed for participating in a skit making fun of the Holocaust; earlier in the week,  the musical director of the Opening Ceremonies resigned after a article first reported years ago resurfaced saying that he had confessed to bullying and abusing disabled classmates.

If Tokyo 2020 ends up as the Covid spreader medical scientists fear, regardless of the athletes' feats the Tokyo Summer Olympics will forever be known as The Covid Olympics, just as the 1936 Olympics in Germany are still derided as the Nazi Olympics. 

Perhaps those Olympians who were unable to have the opportunity to win a medal because of Covid-19 should be given a memento of their experience by the IOC acknowledging that they were in the Olympics. My suggestion: A face mask would be a suitable souvenir.

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About the Author: Arthur Solomon, a former journalist, was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller, and was responsible for restructuring, managing and playing key roles in some of the most significant national and international sports and non-sports programs. He also traveled internationally as a media adviser to high-ranking government officials. He now is a frequent contributor to public relations publications, consults on public relations projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at arthursolomon4pr (at) juno.com or artsolomon4pr@optimum.net.