How Covid-19 will affect the Olympics

By: Aimee Barsa 

The Olympics in Tokyo will start on July 23, 2021. The Olympics in Tokyo was supposed to be held in 2020 but due to the Coronavirus, it was pushed off a year. Covid will cause a lot of disruption in every sport and will change the Olympics tremendously. The athletes have been training for a long time for the Olympics and due to Covid, they will have to work harder and harder to get a gold medal. 

Some key parts of the Olympics rules will be changed like roster sizes, will spectators be allowed, and athletes’ schedules will be completely different. Due to Covid-19 roster sizes will be reduced. This will cause some athletes who made the Olympics in 2020 to be cut. No one has stated if the Olympics will allow fans or not. The international Committee has stated that they are “very confident” that spectators will be allowed (BBC). Another part of the Olympics that will be different for athletes is their ability to explore the city. Athletes won’t be able to explore or linger around after they have completed their events. Athletes won’t be allowed to have late-night parties or early mornings in the town. Athletes will also be encouraged to leave Japan “a day or two after they’ve finished competing” (SI). All of these new guidelines will be different for athletes and cause them to experience a whole new type of Olympics. The Olympics will also have rapid testing and a bunch of other tools to prevent the Corona Virus from spreading. All of the precautions that the International Olympic Committee has created will be super beneficial and make the Olympics able to take place in 2021.