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
Australia’s Grant Hackett celebrates victory in the 1500m freestyle final (Photo by Jon Buckle/EMPICS via Getty Images)
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.”
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.
Formula One world champions Red Bull took their season launch to the United States with a spray of pyrotechnics in front of a rapt Manhattan crowd as fans braved the bitter cold outside.
Where once NASCAR and IndyCar had a stranglehold on American gearheads, the splash hit Netflix docu-drama “Drive to Survive” has indoctrinated legions of new fans in the United States.
Neither icy cold nor eye-watering winds whipping along the Hudson River could deter the dozens of people who showed up outside the Classic Car Club on Friday, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite drivers heading for the launch.
“I’ve been following it for a while and around 2017, 2016 it wasn’t that big in the United States,” said Tyler Quinn, 21, a college student in Manhattan, who last year saved up to see the Formula One race in Canada and feared the growing fan base could make future trips prohibitively expensive.
“It’s exploded exponentially. You know, when I talk to people in school … they all know about F1, they all recognise certain things, they all ask me questions. It’s growing fast and I really am glad about that.”
Las Vegas will join Austin and Miami as the third race in the United States in the 2023 calendar as F1 looks to make further inroads into the lucrative market.
Speaking at the members-only Classic Car Club, where a garage of luxury cars is available for patrons to enjoy, Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner told Reuters that “Drive to Survive” had been a “game changer”.