Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

IOC Would be Wise to Cancel 2021 Summer Games

Friday, May 1, 2020, By Hailey Womer
Share

Syracuse University Sport Management Professor Rick Burton says pandemic creates unlevel playing field for all Olympic nations.

For your coverage of the possible cancelation of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, please consider the comments below from Rick Burton, the David B. Falk Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University’s Falk College.  Burton has been quoted on this topic previously and is available for interview. Please contact kkobland@syr.edu to arrange.

“It is aspirational for the IOC to want to hold the Olympics next summer. It gives us hope and an opportunity for global sports fans to look forward to better days ahead and no one can fault the IOC for that.  However, holding the Games next summer (2021) would also fail to acknowledge the magnitude of how bad the virus could still get, particularly if the world endures a distinct flu season during the Northern Hemisphere fall. None of us needs an alarmist or pessimist out ‘howling’ about this matter. But the IOC can only be seen as acting wisely to cancel the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games rather than delay again until 2022.

We still don’t know how badly this pandemic will impact other global zones including numerous countries that always compete in the Olympics. If the pandemic spikes at different times in different zones, creating a devastating staggering, it will produce an unlevel playing field for the athletes. That could mean some Olympians would be cleared to resume regular training activities at different points of time. That advantage would not fit the Olympic ideal.

At issue here for the IOC is not knowing how bad this pandemic may still become in the absence of a vaccine. Statistics in countries like China, Italy and the U.S. have been horrific but could pale compared to what may still lie ahead for dense urban settings where individuals cannot practice social distancing. These countries, long-time participants in the Summer Olympics, could see spikes in fatalities that are unimaginable.  That kind of outcome, akin to the daily fatalities witnessed during the Civil War, WWI or WWII, leads to a logical decision by the IOC and Host Organizing Committee.”

  • Author

Hailey Womer

  • Recent
  • Volunteers Needed for Spring 2021 Move-in
    Wednesday, January 27, 2021, By News Staff
  • ‘What Today’s Veterans Should Know About Entrepreneurship’
    Wednesday, January 27, 2021, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University Ranked in the Top 25 for Best Online Graduate Information Technology Programs by U.S. News & World Report
    Tuesday, January 26, 2021, By News Staff
  • WAER 88.3 FM Welcomes New Sports Director
    Tuesday, January 26, 2021, By Mary Kate Intaglietta
  • The State of the Immigration Courts
    Tuesday, January 26, 2021, By News Staff

More In Uncategorized

“Can JC Penny Perform a Magic Act As It Emerges From Bankruptcy?”

Ray Wimer, professor of retail practice in the Whitman School, was interviewed for the International Business Times piece “Can JC Penny Perform a Magic Act As It Emerges From Bankruptcy?” Wimer, an expert on the retail industry, says that the…

“How the FBI is following a digital trail of evidence to track down capitol rioters.”

Mark Pollitt, adjunct professor in the School of Information Studies, was interviewed for the TODAY story “How the FBI is following a digital trail of evidence to track down capitol rioters.” Pollitt spent a thirty year career working for the…

“Did President rump’s Ban from Twitter Violate Free Speech? The experts say not exactly.”

Shubha Ghosh, the Crandall Melvin Professor of Law in the College of Law, was quoted in the Katie Couric Media piece “Did President rump’s Ban from Twitter Violate Free Speech? The experts say not exactly.” Ghosh, an expert in antitrust…

“People with disabilities desperately need the vaccine. But states disagree on when they’ll get it.”

Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology in the Maxwell School, was quoted in The Washington Post story “People with disabilities desperately need the vaccine. But states disagree on when they’ll get it.” Landes, an expert on the sociology of disability,…

Luvell Anderson writes “Whiteness Is the Greatest Racial Fraud”

Luvell Anderson, associate professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, wrote commentary in the Boston Review titled “Whiteness Is the Greatest Racial Fraud.” Anderson, who studies the philosophy of race, uses the piece to discuss the concept…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.