Why the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Will Be Like No Other

When the coronavirus pandemic forced Tokyo last year to delay the Summer Olympics and Paralympics to July 2021, organizers kept the Tokyo 2020 name, saying they wanted the event to be seen as a “light at the end of the tunnel.” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has been determined to hold the global sports spectacle, even with Covid-19 still spreading. They will look like no other games since the modern Olympics started in the late 19th century, with no fans allowed at events in and around Tokyo. This means a financial hit for Japan, which has spent billions of dollars to host.

From July 23 to Aug. 8. The Paralympics are to begin Aug. 24. It’s the first staging of a modern Olympics in an odd-numbered year. All indications are that the games will go on as planned, even after Tokyo declared a new state of emergency. The Japanese public’s opposition to moving ahead with the Tokyo Olympics has been losing steam, according to media polls done in June. As for the Beijing Winter Olympics, which start six months after the Tokyo games, there remains a question of whether it will be forced to alter its plans.