{"id":420909,"date":"2020-03-05T10:25:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T17:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=420909"},"modified":"2020-03-05T10:30:30","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T17:30:30","slug":"swim-poll-of-the-week-what-should-the-ioc-do-if-the-olympics-cannot-be-held-in-tokyo-because-of-coronavirus-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swim-poll-of-the-week-what-should-the-ioc-do-if-the-olympics-cannot-be-held-in-tokyo-because-of-coronavirus-outbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim Poll of the Week: What Should the IOC do if the Olympics Cannot be Held in Tokyo Because of Coronavirus Outbreak?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the Swim Poll of the Week for Thursday, March 5, 2020, sponsored by Strechcordz Swim Training Products<\/a>. In our last poll, we wanted to know: What Should the IOC do if the Olympics Cannot be Held in Tokyo Because of Coronavirus Outbreak?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The coronavirus outbreak has continued to dominate the world’s headlines in the early days of the 2020 year as threats of the virus cancelling the Olympic Games this summer have swirled around the world. The coronavirus has already caused the Chinese Olympic Swim Trials to be postponed until May, as they originally were to take place at the end of this month.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s Government<\/strong>\u00a0has been told that the contract for the\u00a0Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games<\/a>\u00a0specifies that the event must be held within 2020, allowing for a postponement from July until further towards the end of the year between October and December should the coronavirus emergency make that a safer option.<\/p>\n

Cancellation of the Games, as suggested as a more likely outcome than postponement by\u00a0IOC member Dick Pound<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>a week ago, would be very costly for Japan and all down the chain of commercial interest.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0Seiko Hashimoto, Japan\u2019s Olympics Minister<\/strong>\u00a0said, in response to a lawmaker\u2019s question in parliament, made a point of announcing that Tokyo\u2019s Olympics contract only \u201ccalls for the Games to be held within 2020\u201d and that it \u201ccould be interpreted as [to] allow a postponement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same contract also speaks to Pound\u2019s take: the International Olympic Committee has the right under the hoisting agreement to cancel the Games.<\/p>\n

Hungary’s Katinka Hossz\u00fa<\/strong>, South Africa’s Chad le Clos<\/strong> and Sweden’s Sarah Sj\u00f6str\u00f6m<\/strong> spoke with The Associated Press about their concerns of a possible cancellation last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see the news, but in my mind I\u2019m prepared until it\u2019s on. So I have to be ready,\u201d Hossz\u00fa told the AP. \u201cI really can\u2019t even imagine having the Olympics canceled. For athletes, it\u2019s a nightmare. That\u2019s our life \u2014 preparing for the biggest event in swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, it\u2019s definitely on my mind,\u201d Sj\u00f6str\u00f6m told the AP. \u201cWe are reminded about it every day. I read the news. It\u2019s a bit scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to just not shake too many hands, not touch too much stuff,\u201d le Clos told the AP. \u201cIt\u2019s a terrible thing that\u2019s happened. Hopefully it can get cured soon and we\u2019re going to proceed to the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Should the IOC do if the Olympics Cannot be Held in Tokyo Because of Coronavirus Outbreak?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We asked for the swim poll and you answered with\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n