Why Olympics Leaders Cling to the Plan to Have the Summer Games in Tokyo

In an interview Monday afternoon, Lyons said she understood the frustration of American athletes who wanted a harder and earlier push toward postponement. She said she had been advocating on their behalf behind the scenes.

“I don’t need to make a headline to communicate with Thomas Bach,” Lyons said. “I have his cellphone number.”

Lyons also said the size of the United States and its investment in the Olympics made it more difficult for her and the U.S.O.P.C. to take public stands on issues without coming across as a bully. She said the organization could have a “disproportionate impact,” which means it has a larger responsibility to speak only when it is completely informed.

“When the others have something to say, it is of course important, but when we say something it almost forces the hand,” Lyons said. “We are listened to in a different way.”

The matter may soon be moot, as the momentum appears to be shifting more toward the I.O.C. issuing details of a postponement.

Michael Joyner, a doctor at the Mayo Clinic who is working on efforts to come up with a treatment for Covid-19, said a gathering of millions in late July and early August would be a risk for world health, because not enough people will have a resistance to the disease by then. Many scientists project that it could take 12 to 18 months for such widespread immunity to develop.

“You can’t get in front of the herd immunization,” Joyner said.

I.O.C. officials, who are in constant contact with the W.H.O., are well aware of these dynamics. Their Games may yet serve as a celebration of triumph over the coronavirus, though probably not this year.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/sports/olympics/tokyo-olympics-postponed-coronavirus.html