WEBVTT - 2020 Tokyo Olympics Officially Postponed Until Next Year

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<v Speaker 1>It's Wednesday, March. I'm Oscar Ramiraz from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily coronavirus update.

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<v Speaker 1>Tokyo Olympics have officially been postponed until sometime next year.

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<v Speaker 1>Now comes the big problems handling the logistics of moving everything,

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<v Speaker 1>all the money that has been poured into the game

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<v Speaker 1>so far, and what happens to the athletes who still

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<v Speaker 1>need to stay in tip top shape for the games.

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<v Speaker 1>David mac, editor at BuzzFeed News, joins us for how

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus has impacted the biggest sporting events so far. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for joining us, David, So we finally got some news

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<v Speaker 1>that we were expecting a little bit more in recent days.

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<v Speaker 1>The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed for about a year.

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<v Speaker 1>We don't know exactly when they'll come back just yet,

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<v Speaker 1>but they were set to begin on July, and amid

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<v Speaker 1>this whole coronavirus pandemic, it just seemed all but certain

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<v Speaker 1>that we had to shut it down, although there was

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of reluctance by the Internationallympics committee. David tell

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<v Speaker 1>us about this new announcement. You're exactly right that it

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<v Speaker 1>did seem somewhat inevitable. So it's sort of major international

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<v Speaker 1>events one after the other, and big sporting tournaments get

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<v Speaker 1>shot down over these last month or so, and the Olympics,

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<v Speaker 1>as you said, were looming in July, and it just

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<v Speaker 1>did seem like there was no way that this could

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<v Speaker 1>possibly go ahead. Yesterday you had the teams from Canada

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<v Speaker 1>and Australia be the first to announce that they weren't

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<v Speaker 1>going to send their athletes to Tokyo because they were

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<v Speaker 1>worried about the threat posed by the coronavirus. But up

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<v Speaker 1>until now, the IOC and the Japanese Olympic Ministry had

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<v Speaker 1>been sort of adamant that this was going to go ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>They weren't even at least publicly entertaining the idea of

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<v Speaker 1>changing the games. Just at the beginning of the month,

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<v Speaker 1>I think the Japanese Olympics Minister said it was inconceivable

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<v Speaker 1>the idea that the Games being canceled or postponed. But

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<v Speaker 1>of course we had Shinzo Abe have a conversation that

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<v Speaker 1>the Prime Minister of Japan rather have a conversation with

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<v Speaker 1>the head of the IOC Thomas Park today, and he

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<v Speaker 1>emerged to announce it. As you said, the games are

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<v Speaker 1>being put off for about a year. Seems like, as

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<v Speaker 1>you said, no proper date just yet, but the io

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<v Speaker 1>C and the Japanese have agreed that they will be

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<v Speaker 1>held by next summer at the latest, and of course

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<v Speaker 1>that is going to have major repercussions for the international

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<v Speaker 1>sporting calendar. Now, this is the first time that this

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<v Speaker 1>has really happened where it's been postponed by anything other

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<v Speaker 1>than war. Basically, World War One and World War two

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<v Speaker 1>impacted some of the games at that time, and these

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<v Speaker 1>games will still be called Tokyo despite happening. And there's

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<v Speaker 1>probably just a simplicity element there of all the branding

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<v Speaker 1>that's already been prints and organized for not just the

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<v Speaker 1>Japanese but media companies around the world and things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think, probably to say the Japanese a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of money, I've already spent at least about twenty six

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<v Speaker 1>billion dollars on these games, they're going to let them

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<v Speaker 1>still call the games. And as you said, this is

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<v Speaker 1>the first time that the timing of the games has

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<v Speaker 1>been impacted by anything other than a war. I think,

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<v Speaker 1>as you said, the World War is affected that they

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<v Speaker 1>can out of the Games during the wars. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>there were the famous boycott during the Olympics during the

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<v Speaker 1>Cold War, but we've never had anything a public health

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<v Speaker 1>crisis postponent Olympic Games. Before let's talk a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>about the money you mentioned twenty six billion so far

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<v Speaker 1>that Japan has probably put into this. But it's not

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<v Speaker 1>just Japan themselves. I know NBC always hosts the Olympics

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<v Speaker 1>here back home and the broadcasts all that stuff. There's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of money tied up there. There's a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money tied up in advertisements, there's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>money tied up in endorsements for athletes themselves. That this

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<v Speaker 1>stuff will have to be put on hold for here probably.

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<v Speaker 1>I think the Japanese were expecting two billion dollars in

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<v Speaker 1>tourism revenue to come through on this, So putting this

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<v Speaker 1>on hold at this crazy time right now is just

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<v Speaker 1>a huge impact, yes, exactly. And of course Japan has

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<v Speaker 1>been hit by corona virus cases like everyone else in

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<v Speaker 1>the world, so they've got a lot of money to

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<v Speaker 1>spend on that on their health system at the moment

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<v Speaker 1>as well. But I think, as you said, it's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of important when you watch the Olympics and you get

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<v Speaker 1>caught up in the spectacle and the sport. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>it is a huge money making machine for the media

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<v Speaker 1>markets around the world and the sporting As you said,

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<v Speaker 1>think of all the advertisers that are paying to have

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<v Speaker 1>their brands associated with the Olympics and to use the

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<v Speaker 1>Olympic rings on things like that. We're going to be

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<v Speaker 1>seeing a major impact in terms of just sort of

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<v Speaker 1>chaos on the international media market as they scrambled to

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<v Speaker 1>sort of reschedule things for currently we don't know when

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<v Speaker 1>at some point in the next year. And in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of advertising and sponsorship, as you said, NBC had paid

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<v Speaker 1>I think the biggest amount for any broadcast in the world,

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<v Speaker 1>and there was discussion before today that potentially the games

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<v Speaker 1>could be pushed back maybe a few months, maybe held

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<v Speaker 1>in another country and you know, another time. But of course,

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<v Speaker 1>you know NBC obviously would impact the coverage of US

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<v Speaker 1>football if we said that was going to happen in

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<v Speaker 1>the six months, that would conflict with their TV calendar

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<v Speaker 1>as well. So everything was kind of the interbeats get

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<v Speaker 1>planned sort of years and years out and this is

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<v Speaker 1>a just a couple of months out now, just sort

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<v Speaker 1>of have to scramble to change everything is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be a lot of work, that's for sure. I want

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<v Speaker 1>to talk a little bit about the athletes. The Tokyo

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<v Speaker 1>Games were anticipated to be one of the largest yet

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<v Speaker 1>more than eleven thousand athletes from two hundred and six countries,

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<v Speaker 1>thirty three sports, three hundred and thirty nine medal events.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a lot. But for the athletes themselves, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>they're training so that they're at their peak. Once this

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<v Speaker 1>is happening, this all kind of throws that for loop.

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<v Speaker 1>Now they have to keep this peak training period. Not

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<v Speaker 1>that they're not training all the time, but this peak

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<v Speaker 1>training period that they need to be at their best

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<v Speaker 1>for the games has to be extended a here. Who

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<v Speaker 1>knows how people's bodies hold up for another year. Rescheduling

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<v Speaker 1>of Olympic trials, things like wrestling and swimming, those had

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<v Speaker 1>to be postponed already, running of the marathon that's already

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<v Speaker 1>been done. Do they redo those again? There's so much

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<v Speaker 1>that has to go into just that part of it.

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<v Speaker 1>With the athletes, that's exactly right. I mean, I'm having

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<v Speaker 1>a hard enough time working out in my apartment in

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus lockdown I think of these guys who have to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that staying in peak physical performance now or

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<v Speaker 1>at least get back to it in time for the

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<v Speaker 1>next Games. It's going to be a lot of work there.

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<v Speaker 1>But I think, as you said, the interesting thing as

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<v Speaker 1>well as just how much sort of chaos this is

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<v Speaker 1>going to cause on the international sporting calendar, as all

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<v Speaker 1>the federations and associations of athletics and swimming, gymnastics and

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<v Speaker 1>pinning else in between have to try to either work

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<v Speaker 1>out what's going to happen, not just with the qualifying

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<v Speaker 1>events for the Games, but the things that were scheduled

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<v Speaker 1>for next year as well, and the tournaments and the

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<v Speaker 1>soccer tournaments and the basketball tournaments that were scheduled for

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<v Speaker 1>next year, and what was supposed to be a non

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<v Speaker 1>Games year. It's all going to be up in the

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<v Speaker 1>air and have to get replanned. David Mac, editor at

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<v Speaker 1>BuzzFeed News, thank you very much for joining us my pleasure.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Oscar Ramires and this has been your daily coronavirus update.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't forget that. For today's big news stories, you can

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<v Speaker 1>check me out on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday

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<v Speaker 1>through Friday, So follow us in I Heart radio or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you get your podcast. It