Olympics boss Thomas Bach claims no alternative to the Tokyo Games starting on time is being considered.
The IOC president moved to try to reassure competitors like British sailing star Hannah Mills, who described Tokyo uncertainty as ‘exhausting’.
Bach said: “We have at this moment, no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on the 23rd of July in the Olympic stadium in Tokyo.
“This is why there is no plan B and this is why we are fully committed to make these Games safe and successful.”
His intervention follows an admission by London 2012 mastermind Sir Keith Mills that “if I was sitting in the shoes of the organising committee in Tokyo I would be making plans for a cancellation”.
There is also a report in The Times today which claims the Japanese government has privately concluded that the Games will have to be cancelled
Olympic gold medalist Greg Rutherford says he has enormous sympathy for athletes trying to prepare against a backdrop of such uncertainty.
“I do not envy them at this point in any way, shape or form,” he said. “What they’ve had to endure is incredibly difficult.
“Some have already lost their moment. They may not know that but they have. That’s a really sad thing.
“Some of those who were going to be Olympic champions in 2020 now won’t be in 2021 or whenever it happens.
“And if the Tokyo Games are cancelled entirely we lose almost a generation of athletes who are training for that one time.
“But I can’t reiterate enough that it has to come down to safety. What’s the point in hosting the Olympic Games if all of sudden you’ve got thousands of people dying again. It’s not worth it.”
Ever since postponing the 2020 Games in March last year Bach has clung to the hope that the 2021 edition can be “the light at the end of this dark tunnel”.
But he agrees that priority has to be given to safety and hinted in the Kyodo News that reducing spectator numbers in a host city which is currently under a state of emergency was entirely possible. Long-time IOC member Dick Pound agrees.
“The question is, is this a ‘must-have’ or ‘nice-to-have’?” said the Canadian. “It’s nice to have spectators. But it’s not a must-have."
