Coronavirus: Call off Olympics for sport’s sake – The Yorkshire Post says
THE power of the Olympics and Parlaympics to be a force for good is renowned. From the post-war 1948 Games in London to South and North Korea’s show of unity at the most recent Winter Olympics, their global reach is profound.
Yet, while Yorkshire was looking forward to its own golden greats like Ed Clancy, Alistair Brownlee, Jack Laugher and Hannah Cockroft flying the flag for this county in Tokyo this summer, sport, just now, remains a glorious irrelevance because of Covid-19.
And though the IOC’s reluctance is understandable as Canada pulls out its athletes with just over 100 days to go until the opening ceremony, the Olympic motto – Citrius, Altius, Fortius – will burn even more brightly if the Games are postponed, now, for 12 months so not to put competitors, officials and fans at risk.
Far from being an admission of defeat, it will give the whole world a flicker of hope - the very essence of the Olympics.