It’s been 80 years since an entire Olympics competition — from start to finish — has been canceled, but it might actually happen this year.
There’s just so much turmoil going on in the world right now, both politically, and medically, so there really is a possibility that the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo may not take place as scheduled.
It may sound like a hot take, but bettors who like to bet on the Olympics on sites like TopBet.eu may be out of luck — as well as fans who like to root for their country to win as many medals as possible.
First off, the tension between both North Korea and the rest of the world — especially the United States — cannot be ignored. Just a few days ago, South Korea claimed that North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles, so it’s clear that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not messing around. He makes a lot of threats, but the scary thing is that he backs them up as well.
Tokyo has been giving tours to the Olympics grounds, as you can see in the photo below, but it’s no lock that the games will take place as scheduled.
Oct 17, 2019; Tokyo, JAPAN; A general view of the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
And then there’s the threat of terrorism — either nuclear war, or hacking. Russian hackers were able to infiltrate the intense security at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, and they actually caused the website to completely shut down for hours after the Opening Ceremony. Not only that, there were so many technical issues the security team had to fix that they had to work all night to make sure the first events ran smoothly the following day. They did — barely — but hackers were able to influence some of the events in the form of minor technical issues, such as gates not opening, etc.
Oct 16, 2019; Tokyo, JAPAN; An exterior view of Olympic Stadium is discussed during venue tours in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
If 2018 is any indication of what 2020 will bring, expect some security breaches to throw off how the Olympics are played.
But, most importantly, those most concerned about the Olympics being canceled are worried about disease. The coronavirus has taken the entire world by storm, and is especially bad in Asia, where the Olympics are set to take place.
Security breaches and possibly even political turmoil can be controlled or put on hold, but no one can predict what the coronavirus will bring, and how strong it will be by the time the Olympics begin this summer. As such, there’s serious concern about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being canceled, although we hope it doesn’t happen.
