Tokyo Olympics 2021: (Still) a Good Idea?

Financial concerns are mounting as the Tokyo Olympic Games -postponed due to the pandemic- is now among the most over budget Olympic Games of all time. But what does this mean for golf?

Yet another consequence of the ongoing pandemic is the ever dwindling prospect of a business-as-usual (whatever that means) Tokyo Summer Olympics. The games were postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic and official sources estimated this has set the country’s Olympic preparations back $7.2B at the time of writing.

One year on: is it really still worth it?

Then prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced in late March 2020, after many countries had entered a full or partial lockdown, that the Games will be postponed until 2021. Since then, the estimated budget has reached an alarmingly unexpected high, with initial estimates of the total cost of the delay ranging from only $2B to $6B.

According to Safebettingsites, the postponement of the games has become a source of tension between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Japanese government, with both sides disagreed on who will foot the bill for the delay.

In recent years, the financial burden of hosting the Summer Olympics has cast an inescapable shadow on the event’s marketability to the countries who compete to host them. On top of this, with the pandemic affecting more people around the world than ever before, many in Japan are starting to ask whether the Tokyo Olympics should take place at all.

Should the games still go ahead in 2021?

If you were to ask someone from Japan, their answer may very well be no.

The pandemic continues to fan the flames of uncertainty in many aspects of our daily lives. In Japan, like in many countries, the daily death toll reached an all time high at the end of December.

With this uncertainty in mind, it may not be surprising that according to Safebetttingsites, a survey of 1000+ Japanese participants, conducted in August, found that 70% of respondents believed that the event should be postponed further, or in some cases (33.7%) outright cancelled.

What does this mean for golf?

2020 would have been only the second chance in recent history to see golf played at the Olympics. The most recent Summer Olympics in Brazil saw 120 players from 41 nations, including Justin Rose (GB) and Henrik Stenson (Sweden), play at the Olympic golf course in Rio de Janeiro. Before 2016, the last Olympic tee-off was in 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Sadly, we missed out on the chance to relive the excitement of the 2016 games in 2020. However, the good news for golf fans is that even in the event of an outright cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics, the pandemic has so far not had such a noticeable impact on much of the global professional calendar for 2021, with the PGA Tour starting again on Friday (08/01).

While the near future of the Olympics doesn’t look good for spectators or organisers, golf fans are lucky enough to still have plenty to look forward to in the upcoming year.