By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

 

THE 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games which was supposed to be held last July 24 to August 9 was unanimously postponed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headed by its President Thomas Bach and Japan Prime Minister Abe Shinzo together with the President of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee and other Japan sports czars.

The only single motivation was obviously due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and to safeguard the health of the world’s participating athletes and spectators. The quadrennial meet on its 33^rd edition will definitely not take place on July 23, according to the organizing Japan Olympic Committee (JOC). Ironically, the postponement of the games was welcomed by many national committees (NOCs) of different countries all over the world particularly their national athletes and the new dates had given their own health authorities the maximum time to deal with the changing landscape and disruption caused by the killer globe disease. Yes, that’s what exactly happened in the days before the rescheduling of the Tokyo Olympic Games. It was based on the data on the surge of the contagion of the pandemic which the IOC monitored daily and adapted some changes based on guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe that the Olympic Games were never postponed since its birth in 1896 hosted by Athens, Greece until the first and second world wars and resumed only in 1948 hosted by London, England, but was postponed this time, but by just a year.

According to latest report, our national athletes led by our 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz are doing well and are showing great resilience despite these problematic times. Their state of affairs really depends on where they live or quartered. Yes, I, as former national cycling athlete in 1964, I know the fact that they train while respecting the policies put in place by their respective coaches as mandated by their respective honchos. I believe that most of our national athletes that already passed the Olympic criteria cannot move from one place to another where they are quarantined in apartments depending on the sports that they belong to. Like some athletes around the world, our own PH team can only do so much for themselves depending on the situation and restrictions put in place by their respective bosses.

The JOC says that it cannot afford to postpone this XXXIII Olympiad anew to avoid gargantuan expenditures. I agree. So with or without spectators, in case this plague remains in the planet this coming July which many say it will, the IOC and JOC for sure will do the ‘bubble system’ like what’s being done now by NBA. Let’s just wait see.

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My big congrats to our boxing sensation, the 38-year-old Donie “Ahas” Nietes for unanimously outpointing Pablo Carillo of Colombia last April 4 at Caesar’s Palace in Dubai, United Arab Emirates to win the World Boxing Association (WBO) international super flyweight title.

I always take a flight to Cebu City especially if his fights against a Mexican. Me, being a half Filipino and half Mexican, I always play neutral every time my Cebuano friend and my cycling contemporary Joe Deresas who always meet me at Cebu City International Airport. He teased me about picking a winner before the fight. The four-division world champion Nietes from Murcia, Negros Occidental improved his record to 43 wins, one loss and five draws.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses.” DEUTERONOMY 28: 59

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