Content creators mean business
Social media influencers are flipping the rules by first getting followers and then launching products and ...
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is facing its strongest headwinds in decades as it prepares to brief national committees on Wednesday on the state of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics amid the coronavirus pandemic, with voices of dissent growing louder.
The IOC has remained committed to staging the Tokyo Games as planned from July 24 to August 9, saying on Tuesday after a meeting with international sports federations that measures against the virus were delivering results.
The IOC has refused to publicly consider cancellation or postponement as possible options, even as other major events including soccer’s Euro 2020 and Copa America and the French Open tennis grand slam announced postponements on Tuesday.
The virus has also wreaked havoc with Olympic qualification tournaments with athletes struggling to train, travel or compete and many pre-Games qualifiers cancelled or postponed.
Tokyo is set to host around 11,000 athletes and 53 per cent have already earned their spot at the Games. The remaining 43 per cent will clinch their place through modified qualifiers, or previous performances based on ranking.
Under the current exceptional circumstances, the IOC said, solutions needed to be found that were appropriate, though they might not be ideal for all athletes. “This is an exceptional situation which requires exceptional solutions,” the IOC told Reuters on Wednesday.
“The IOC is committed to finding a solution with the least negative impact for the athletes, while protecting the integrity of the competition and the athletes’ health.
IOC member Hayley Wickenheiser called the decision to proceed with the Games “insensitive and irresponsible” in the most vocal attack on the Olympic body since President Thomas Bach took over in 2013.
Wickenheiser, who competed in five Winter Games in ice hockey and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in softball, said that continuing with the Games as planned ignored the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“This crisis is bigger than even the Olympics,” Wickenheiser tweeted. “Athletes can’t train. Attendees can’t travel plan. Sponsors and marketers can’t market with a degree of sensitivity.”
“The IOC insisting this will move ahead, with such conviction, is insensitive and irresponsible given the state of humanity.”
Several athletes, including reigning Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi, said the IOC’s decision was putting athletes’ health at risk, urging them to train as normal when entire countries have shut down to contain the virus spread. Stefanidi told Reuters, “We all want Tokyo to happen but what is the Plan B if it does not?”
Social media influencers are flipping the rules by first getting followers and then launching products and ...
Paneer, once alien to the South, has found a lucrative market in Chennai
WPP agency Wunderman Thompson has launched its annual Future 100 report, lifting the lid on trends shaping the ...
Carriers claim that all measures — including pre-flight tests, cabin sanitisation and fresh air inflow — have ...
What filters should you apply when mining for under-the-radar small-cap stocks? Read on to find more
High valuation, intensely competitive landscape and small cap nature of the stock are key risks.
Amid choppiness, the benchmark indices slipped marginally; approach the week with caution
SBI Cards (₹1,032.7): Witnesses fresh breakoutBetween September and December last year, the stock of SBI Cards ...
A virus swept aside 2020 plans to mark the 250th year of the birth of Beethoven. We need the German composer’s ...
On the day the oleander baby was born, there was a steady, happy drizzle. Madhu woke up feeling unsteady. The ...
Mr Pandya rose from his recently inherited Japanese swivel chair and walked to observe his recently inherited ...
Marie leaned back in the chair, holding the brandy to her chest, the rain tapping on the windowpanes. She ...
Social media influencers are flipping the rules by first getting followers and then launching products and ...
WPP agency Wunderman Thompson has launched its annual Future 100 report, lifting the lid on trends shaping the ...
Paneer, once alien to the South, has found a lucrative market in Chennai
The Flipkart kids playing adults are back — this time to push the home grown e-commerce marketplace’s grocery ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor