Before the Olympic opening ceremony: Many in Tokyo want it to simply pass

The news a few hours before the opening ceremony of the Summer Games in Tokyo matched the bad mood in the Olympic city. The organizers reported 19 further corona cases in connection with the Olympics, thus announcing the highest value since the tests began on July 1.

The virus thus dominated the Olympic stage once again, on which significantly fewer athletes will be able to present themselves than planned. Because the number of positive tests has now risen to 106, although the games – apart from a few preliminary round games in team sports – have not even started properly. As the organizing committee announced in the daily report published on Friday, those affected include three athletes who do not come from Japan. The organizing committee does not mention names or countries of origin.

Olympia: Majority is against the games

Because of Corona, the Tokyo games are supposed to be controversial, especially in the host country. Even the extremely strict rules obviously cannot prevent the virus from spreading among athletes. The result of a positive test is brutal for the athletes concerned: From one moment to the next, all preparations, which had to be extended by a year due to the postponement of the games due to the pandemic, are over. Participation in the games is then excluded. The most prominent example so far: the sure gold candidate in skeet shooting, the British Amber Hill.

In this depressed mood, this Friday (1 p.m. CEST / ZDF, Eurosport and sternTicker) the Games will be officially opened in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in a short video message that the Olympians gave many people “dreams and emotions” and encouraged them. “Show your best performance,” said Suga. Tokyo is still in the fourth corona state of emergency until well after the end of the Olympic Games. In surveys, a majority of the population had repeatedly spoken out in favor of a renewed postponement or cancellation of the games.

“Unusual and bizarre games”

“There is no sign of euphoria or a festive mood in the capital,” wrote the Japanese daily “Asahi Shimbun”. “Many just want the event to end without any serious problems.” It is “unusual and bizarre” Olympic Games that begin in the midst of “division and distrust,” according to the paper.

This fits in with the opening ceremony, which will be a show without an audience. Only about 1000 guests of honor will be in the wide circle. The German team will move into the empty arena as 115th of the 206 teams. The team is led by the flag bearers Laura Ludwig and Patrick Hausding. Japan’s athletes are the last to enter the Olympic Stadium. It is expected that Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, as patron, will also officially declare the games open.

Now a typhoon threatens

As if in mockery, the athletes may have to prepare for stormy times in the next few days. A subtropical low pressure zone over the Pacific is likely to form a typhoon and set course for the main Japanese island. Accordingly, the expected typhoon at the beginning of next week could affect the Kanto region around the Olympic city of Tokyo.

Nevertheless, the interest among sports fans in this country is apparently quite high. According to a survey by the opinion research institute infratest dimap, the competitions in Tokyo are of interest to almost every second German citizen. Despite the criticism of the implementation, according to the ARD “Germany trend” surveyed by the institute, twelve percent are very interested, and 36 percent are at least somewhat interested. 64 percent of people over 65 are very or somewhat interested in the Summer Games. For 18 to 39 year olds, however, it is only 34 percent. A slim majority of 51 percent said they were not interested at all.