A former Japanese Olympian says the country has been “cornered” into holding the Olympics this summer.
“We have been cornered into a situation where we cannot even stop now. We are damned if we do, and damned if we do not,” Kaori Yamaguchi, a member of the executive board for the Japanese Olympic Committee and bronze medalist during the 1988 Olympics, said in an editorial published by Kyodo news agency, the Associated Press reported.
“The IOC also seems to think that public opinion in Japan is not important,” Yamaguchi added.
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Polls have shown that the majority of Japanese citizens are not in favor of hosting the Olympics as the country has to keep extending its state of emergency in many areas due to the coronavirus.
“What will these Olympics be for, and for whom?” Yamaguchi said. “The games have already lost meaning and are being held just for the sake of them. I believe we have already missed the opportunity to cancel.”
The games have already cost Japan and the International Olympic Committee billions of dollars to set up making it difficult for the games to be canceled.
Top scientists, doctors and newspapers in Japan have all called for the canceling of the games, but officials have refused and said the games will go on.
The decision has caused thousands of volunteers for the Olympics to quit due to fear of the virus.
Even though Japan has begun vaccinating athletes and Olympic organizers, the country has been plagued by a slow rollout with only three percent of the country being vaccinated so far.
Japan has had over 756,000 reported coronavirus cases and over 13,000 deaths.