Why the U.S. Lagged Behind in the Drive to Postpone the Summer Olympics

Xiao spoke early last week with members of the U.S.O.P.C.’s executive board, relaying concerns athletes had about their inability to train and their concern that a mass gathering like the Olympics would exacerbate the global health crisis. He said he was surprised Friday when Susanne Lyons, the U.S.O.P.C.’s chair, and Sarah Hirshland, its chief executive, echoed the stance of Thomas Bach, the president of the I.O.C., that there was no immediate need to decide on whether to postpone the Games.

That night, the U.S.O.P.C. opened an online poll of potential Olympians. By Monday, nearly 70 percent came out in favor of a postponement, leading the U.S.O.P.C. to shift its position. “Over that weekend things got corrected,” Xiao said. “But it was frustrating.”

The turn finally came Monday night, 24 hours after the national Olympic committees in Canada and Australia announced they would not send a team to Tokyo in July. Germany, Brazil and Norway had already come out against a July Olympics. The national federations for swimming and track and field in the U.S. had also publicly come out in favor of a one-year delay.

“I really think, at some point, with the survey or without, the Olympic committee should have recognized that the Games should not have gone on,” said Christian Taylor, a two-time gold medalist in the triple jump.

In an interview Monday, Lyons said the U.S.O.P.C. had tried to communicate with athletes through emails and a series of teleconferences with members of its athlete advisory commission. She said not all athletes she heard from favored a postponement, especially athletes who had delayed careers and school to train for an Olympic Games this summer.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/sports/olympics/coronavirus-tokyo-olympics-usoc.html