Getting Athletes to Pandemic Olympics Is Logistics Nightmare
- Fiji’s team hitching ride on cargo flight that carries seafood
- Even the world’s fastest woman alive faces logistical hurdles
Ensuring 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries descend on one chosen city over the course of 16 days is a logistical challenge at the best of times. Now consider doing it at the tail end of a global pandemic that’s upended airlines’ flight schedules, closed international borders and made any movement without jabs and multiple Covid tests impossible.
For hundreds of Olympic organizing officials eyeing the start of the Tokyo Games in just 18 days it’s a major headache. Forget about medal tallies and post-race parties (to the limited extent they’re permitted at all), just getting to Japan on time is half the battle.