The 2020 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony is days away, but the stars of the show are being drowned out.

It’s hard to know where to look right now. Even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President admits they underestimated how complex this undertaking is.

Ticker News dived into the mind of one of the best long distance swimmers of all-time, and asked him: should the Olympics go ahead?

“Depends what hat you put on. If I was someone residing in Japan there’s no way you’d want them to go ahead. If you’re an athlete that’s trained their entire life for this opportunity and not wait the standard four years. Which is a very long time. But five years on this occasion, you definitely want that opportunity to compete. You’re at the peak of your performance.”

GRANT HACKETT, OLYMPIC CHampion

IOC President Thomas Bach said the cost of the Tokyo games is rising.

Most of these costs are directly related to the event’s 12 month delay. The IOC set up an emergency fund of $150 million for athletes and $800 million for Olympic committees around the world.

Hackett says he’s never seen this much controversy heading into a games but it might offer people want they need right now.

“There’s always a lot of controversy coming into an Olympics. None like this one that we’ve seen. But at the of the day, once those two weeks are over, a lot of people are inspired by those performances. And just seeing what a human being can do.”

GRANT HACKETT

The shame is we’ve hardly had time to focus on the athletes themselves. But the former Aussie Olympic team captain is very bullish on the swim team.

“I didn’t expect the team to step up to that sort of standard at the Olympic trials. I thought (given) so much uncertainty, some people in some states have had lockdown issues and haven’t been able to get to facilities and train. While some others have had more freedom.

“But the results and times that we’ve produced were quite phenomenal.”

Hackett says the Australian swimmers could be set for their best Olympics in a very long time.

Hopefully their results don’t get drowned out by the current Covid-19 headlines that continue to dominate.