Stars, stripes and silence: Olympics’ choice to ban fans is right call

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Even though we’re in 2021, the 2020 Summer Olympics may be aptly named.

After a recent announcement by Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto, the atmosphere at the Olympic Games will look a lot like sporting events did last year.

“We wanted a full stadium so community people could get involved in welcoming the athletes so we could have a full presentation of the power of sports,” Hashimoto said in a press conference last week. “However, now faced with COVID-19, we have no other choice but to hold the Games in a limited way.”

The press conference followed a decision made by the governments of Tokyo and Japan at large, as well as both the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees, to ban all fans — both local and foreign — from attending this year’s Summer Olympics, slated to begin on July 23 and last until Aug. 8.

The decision came after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in the nation’s capital due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. The emergency is set to remain effective until Aug. 22, encapsulating the entirety of the Olympics.

And it’s going to cost the country a pretty penny.

According to a recent USA Today piece, revenue from Olympic ticket sales was expected to be around $800 million, which would have at least been able to make a tiny dent in the Games’ official $15.4 billion price tag. Now, that ticket revenue number drops to $0 while the cost of the Olympics — which the article claims could actually be as high as $30.8 billion — continues to increase.

In addition to the financial strain the decision puts on Japan and its citizens, it’s going to make for one strange Olympics, but after last year, we’re no stranger to out-of-the-ordinary sporting events. You could say we’re experts.

In 2020, the sports world as a whole became all too familiar with delays, cancellations and capacity limits. Many of which bled into 2021.

But things slowly began to come back to normal as the vaccination train got rolling earlier this year. COVID-19 restrictions started to lift across the nation — and the world — as fans trickled back into arenas. For the first time in nearly a year, the crowd noise we heard after highlight-worthy plays were real fans instead of artificial, pumped-in recordings.

In many areas of the world, sports are starting to heal and fans are back.

Last weekend, for example, was dubbed the “Weekend of Champions” by ESPN. And rightfully so.

In a three-day span, sports fans got to enjoy:

• Tennis: Wimbledon Ladies’ (Ash Barty vs. Karolína Plíšková) and Gentlemen’s (Novak Djokovic vs. Matteo Berrettini) Finals

• Soccer: UEFA EURO 2020 Final, Italy vs. England

• Soccer: Copa América 2020 Final, Argentina vs. Brazil

• Basketball: NBA Finals, Game 3, Phoenix Suns vs. Milwaukee Bucks

• MMA: UFC 264, Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor

In short, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better weekend of sports this year. And while part of that is due to the level of competition, the stars in action and the numerous storylines floating around every event, the weekend was also thrilling because of one major component: the atmosphere.

At least 60,000 people were in attendance at Wembley Stadium in London to see Italy’s historic victory on Sunday.

An announced crowd of 20,062 saw McGregor’s ankle seemingly snap in half at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, on Saturday.

Even the Copa América final on Saturday had a limited capacity of 10% (6,500 fans) at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

And trust me, you could feel the energy through your TV screen.

All of these packed arenas and stadiums create a strong juxtaposition when paired with last week’s Tokyo 2020 news, as athletes who have been hard at work to make their Olympic dreams come true will now have to perform in front of vacant stands and plenty of TV cameras.

However, Japan made the right call. At least they’ll be able to compete at all.

In Japan, as of July 8, just 28.51% of the population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That’s slightly higher than the world average (24.99%), but much lower than the countries hosting last weekend’s major sporting events — United Kingdom (67.32%), United States (54.79%) and Brazil (39.38%) — according to Our World in Data.

Pair lower vaccination numbers with the rise in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo and the emergence of the Delta variant in Japan and you have a perfect mixture for a spectator-less Games.

And as crazy as it sounds, an Olympics with no fans might have been better than the alternative.

Prior to the state of emergency declaration, the IOC had already decided to ban foreign fans from the Games, allowing a limited number of local fans (no more than 10,000 in a venue).

Here’s the kicker, though: They wouldn’t have been allowed to cheer. Vocally, anyway.

The original plan was for fans to have to make it through protocols — including temperature checks and face-covering requirements — to enter, but once inside, they wouldn’t be allowed to drink alcohol, ask for autographs, hug one another or verbally cheer. They’d only be allowed to clap — and if they were caught breaking any of those rules, they’d be escorted out of the venue.

Sports inherently cause people to feel a wide range of emotions — happiness, sadness, rage and everything else along the spectrum. That becomes even truer when talking about international competition.

Clapping just doesn’t do that level of passion justice.

So while it may be odd to see Simone Biles winning a boatload of medals in front of a plethora of empty seats, just remember that millions of people are sitting in their homes, thankful the Olympics are back and cheering her on with their faces pressed against the TV screen and their voices reaching certain decibels we only get to witness every four years.

And as long as you don’t upset the neighbors, scream both expletives and words of support to your heart’s content. I promise you won’t be thrown out.

That’s what the Summer Games is all about.

Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.