With just 25 days to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, fears of further rescheduling appear to have all but dissipated. That is, we are almost certain to have the games as planned beginning from the 23rd of July. Already delayed by a whole year due to Covid, the Japanese Government and the International Olympic committee has worked very hard to ensure we have this games go on as scheduled. However, it may not have come without a cost.

Hosting the Olympics comes with a lot of prestige and an opportunity to stimulate the economy of the host city, and indeed the host country. It is increasingly becoming a symbol of prosperity and Technological advancement, thus unsurprising how Hosts leave no stone unturned to make it as glamorous as possible and leave that 'wow' effect.

It also provides an opportunity for a host nation to develop its grassroots sports system with an eye on putting up a decent performance while hosting the games. Tokyo for instance, was selected in September 2013 to host this games - more than sufficient time to have wheeled out any athletes development program, especially in sports that are often unheralded save for the Olympics.

It is no surprise then as Host nations often spend enormous amounts to host and have a successful games, as the benefits more often than naught outweigh the cost of hosting. Some host cities have even managed to turnover a surplus on their operating expenses, or calculate sufficient growth in the medium term as a direct effect of the games in that location or Country.

Hosting the games however, has not gone without criticism. It increasingly puts a strain on a nation financially, especially one saddled with the burden of developing their infrastructure up to standard. Rising costs as well as a growing public contempt towards the games has made the best case for a restructuring of the games which some feel is necessary to save it from imploding. With respect to this games however, two things have largely set it up for criticism:

Covid

The first is a global Pandemic that no one predicted prior to hosting and few certainly saw as having such a gripping effect on the World. As a direct result of the Pandemic, the games had to be postponed by a whole year (as with many other major Tournaments) with health and safety concerns taking priority. One consequence of Covid is the cost increment in maintaining Olympic infrastructure designed for the games. As a lot of them were not in use, money was sunk to maintain standards bringing in zero revenue.

Another effect is the direct losses that would be sustained from not opening up the games to foreign spectators due to Covid. Sectors that would hitherto have thrived as a result of an influx of foreign visitors would not enjoy such benefits, affecting the overall viability of the games. Even top athletes who originally would never have considered opting out of the Olympics have had to make U-turns due to personal reasons or conflicts in their Schedule.

High Cost

The 2020 games was Originally expected to gulp $7.1Billion as estimated by the hosts. However, the actual cost has ballooned way beyond what was initially planned, with some reports going as high as $25Billion. To put it into perspective, that amount surpasses the entire national Budgets for most African Countries. It is certainly a ludicrous amount that hasn't been helped by Covid and Covid protocols. As it stands, the chances of recovering a significant sum on their expense is very low, especially since ticket sales and tourism will be severely hampered by the ban on foreign spectators.

No doubt the games still possess a lot of intrinsic value that cannot necessarily be quantified. However, even at the face of national pride, would Tokyo look back at this games with pride?