TOKYO — The COVID rule-breaking was obvious at Friday's opening ceremony, when athletes were clearly visible on TV with masks below their noses, but an athlete tells Axios that the rule-breaking has been going on well before that.
- It's been happening at least since athletes arrived in the Olympic Village, where masks were dropped below noses and different teams were forced to share buses.
TOKYO — The COVID rule-breaking was obvious at Friday's opening ceremony, when athletes were clearly visible on TV with masks below their noses, but an athlete tells Axios that the rule-breaking has been going on well before that.
- It's been happening at least since athletes arrived in the Olympic Village, where masks were dropped below noses and different teams were forced to share buses.
- Even the official plan introduces risks, both via the flight to get to Tokyo as well as shared dining facilities, where people of course are unmasked.
Why it matters: Organizers have insisted the games can be safe for both the athletes and the people of Japan. But a sense of fear persists among athletes and other participants, in part because the precautions are both insufficient and not always being followed.
- It's not just the participants. Journalists, who have also been known to drop their masks, are forced to crowd onto official buses to get from one approved location to another. Several expressed concern that there could easily be a significant outbreak.
- "For these Games we are asking all the participants to follow the rules in the playbook," Masa Takaya, a spokesperson for the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, scolded after the opening ceremony.
Zoom out: It's entirely possible — and strongly encouraged — that Americans and other foreigners at the Summer Games will go their entire stay without encountering a single Tokyo resident besides Olympic volunteers.
- I've been here since Tuesday, and the only Japanese people I've interacted with personally are the people in my hotel and those who helped me get from one pre-approved location to another.
For most residents of Tokyo, the only tangible thing they're getting from the Olympics is the bill, if not an increased risk of COVID.
- They're even being discouraged from watching the Games in groups.
Risks for athletes are compounded by the fact that the Games' COVID strategy focuses on testing and tracking rather than vaccination since the shots aren't widely available in many countries.
- A good number of athletes are indeed vaccinated (the IOC estimates more than 80%+ will be), but the rules and protocols are essentially the same regardless. (About 100 U.S. athletes are unvaccinated.)
Inside the dome: During the sweaty, muggy opening ceremony, a large protest outside was audible inside the largely empty Olympic Stadium — all the more so during a moment of silence to honor those lost to COVID and those killed during the 1972 Games in Munich.
- The roar was a reminder that polls consistently showed the people of Japan strongly opposed going ahead with the Games.
How we got here: It's been a logistical nightmare for the press and the few other attendees, who had to sift through a half-dozen glitch-prone apps and websites created in part to try to prevent crowding.
- The precautions look more performative than protective. Once here, we've been repeatedly forced to share crowded indoor spaces, including buses to the various venues, hotels and the main press center.
Read Ina's dispatch from the opening ceremony.
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July 25, 2021 at 02:01AM
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Behind the scenes at the COVID Olympics - Axios
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