It’s true that the Tokyo Olympic organisers have faced unprecedented problems over the past 18 months. Who’s ever had to deal with something like a wordwide epidemic of such lethal proportions, and the subsequent postponement by a year of the Olympics?
But don’t think other Olympics haven’t offered organisers extraordinary challenges.
In fact, given what’s gone on since the first Olympics, in Athens in 1896, it’s amazing we’ve got this far. Here are just a few of the problems that the Olympics have survived:
1900, Paris
The Olympics were run in conjunction with the World Fair and therefore lasted from May 14-October 28. Many people who took part in the World Fair did not even know they had competed in the Olympics. The organisation was largely shambolic.
Many of the World Fair events, such as automobile and motorcycle racing, ballooning, cricket, croquet, Basque pelota, the swimming obstacle race and underwater swimming, thus became Olympic sports for the only time.
1904, St Louis
These Olympics were beset by the same problems, plus others. They were run in conjunction with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and therefore lasted from July 1-November 3.
The 1904 Olympics were granted to Chicago, but there was internal bickering over having two international events in such close proximity at the same time, so they were moved to St Louis, where the Exposition was being held.
Because of the international isolation of St Louis in those pre-air travel days, only 12 countries attended and only 62 competitors were from outside North America.
1920, Antwerp
The 1916 Olympics, scheduled for Berlin, were cancelled because of World War I and the decision was made in 1918 to award the 1920 Games to Antwerp, as a “reward” for the Belgians’ brave war efforts.
Whether it was a reward is debatable. The Belgians had under two years to organise the Olympics, and only announced the schedule of events a few months before the Games. Parts of Antwerp had been destroyed during the war and Belgium did not have the necessary funds to organise an Olympics. The country eventually lost 600 million francs on its Olympic adventure.
The main stadium was not completed before the Games, and athletes had to sleep on folding cots. Following World War I, sanctions were imposed against Hungary, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Turkey.
1932, Los Angeles
These Olympics, taking place in the midst of a wordwide depression, suffered a double whammy. Not only was funding extremely scarce, but the remoteness of Los Angeles meant it was prohibitively expensive to send a team to the other side of the world.
Only 37 countries entered, down from the 46 who had attended in Amsterdam four years earlier, and many sent tiny teams.
1936, Berlin
When Berlin was awarded the Games in 1931, few foresaw the problems that arose. The rise of Hitler and Nazism meant the Games became heavily nationalistic. The Nazis’ anti-Jew and anti-black policies split the sports world as the Olympics approached.
There were calls for a boycott and a ‘People’s Olympiad” was planned for Barcelona, Spain, in opposition to the Berlin event. About 6000 athletes from 49 countries registered, but the Olympiad was never held – the day before its scheduled start, the Spanish civil war broke out.
1948, London
After the 1940 Olympics, scheduled for Tokyo, then Helsinki, were cancelled, and the 1944 London Olympics had suffered the same fate, the dilemma facing the International Olympic Committee was who should host the 1948 Olympics. London gallantly stepped forward, despite the challenging times.
The event was tagged the “Austerity Olympics”, and took place at a time of food rationing in England. No new venues were constructed, and the budgeting was extremely tight. But still the Olympics spluttered back to life after 12 years.
1956, Melbourne
This was the first time the southern hemisphere hosted the Olympics. The Games were hit by three political events – the Suez Crisis, the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the China-Taiwan impasse, which led to seven countries boycotting Melbourne.
In addition, Australia’s quarantine laws meant the equestrian events had to be held on the other side of the world, in Stockholm.
1972, Munich
There was nothing wrong with the Germans’ planning or organisation, but midway through the Games, there was a major crisis when a group of Palestinian terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and judges hostage, and after a prolonged stand-off and negotiations with police, killed them.
Then came the most difficult decision of all: should the Games proceed after such a profound tragedy? After a sombre ceremony inside the main stadium, the Games duly continued, as they have after every crisis.
1976, Montreal
The All Blacks toured South Africa in 1976, which upset the Organisation for African Unity, and eventually led to a huge boycott of that year’s Montreal Olympics. The IOC was given an ultimatum: either eject New Zealand from the Olympics or all African nations will boycott. New Zealand stayed and 34 countries, primarily African, withdrew.
1980, Moscow
There was a much bigger boycott in 1980 when US President Jimmy Carter objected to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and called for a boycott of the Moscow Games.
It was a divisive demand. Carter’s critics felt it was driven by domestic politics with athletes being used as pawns. Eventually 66 countries boycotted, and others, including New Zealand and Australia, sent much reduced teams.
1984, Los Angeles
Predictably, there was a tit-for-tat boycott in 1984 when the Soviet Union and its satellite states, except Romania, boycotted. The Games went ahead, but only after 18 countries pulled out.
2016, Rio de Janeiro
The outbreak of the Zica virus on the eve of the Olympics caused shockwaves. Apparently the virus, passed on primarily by mosquitos, was especially harmful to pregnant women and might harm the chances of a woman ever becoming pregnant.
Countless scare stories were published in the lead-up to the Games, and there were dozens of high-profile withdrawals, including golfers Dustin Johnson, Vijay Singh, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry, Charl Schwartzel, Graeme McDowell and tennis players Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych, Bob and Mike Bryan, Simone Halep and Karolina Pliskova.
Interestingly though women were apparently most endangered, almost all withdrawals were men, and almost all were from tennis and golf, which had their own Grand Slam and Major events. Possibly players in those two sports did not cherish Olympic medals as did competitors in other sports.
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