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Tokyo Olympics Just Keep Getting Worse With Athletes Testing Positive for COVID-19, Sponsors Pulling Ads, More

Just cancel them already.

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In news that doesn’t surprise anyone, considering the general state of the world, a member of the U.S. women’s gymnastic team has tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, according to NBC News. The unidentified gymnast was an alternate and tested positive Sunday in Narita, which is about 35 miles outside of Tokyo.

“In alignment with local rules and protocols, the athlete has been transferred to a hotel to quarantine. Out of respect for the individual’s privacy, we cannot provide more information at this time,” the organization said in a statement. With the anxiety that comes with COVID-19 and being on the world stage, it’s the right move to keep her identity secret.

What is known is that she and another alternate member have been quarantined. Someone identified as a “close contact” to the gymnast has also been put on standby, which is the standard when doing trace contacting for COVID-19. And honestly, a gymnast testing positive for COVID-19 before even getting to the Tokyo Olympics isn’t the only evidence that these Olympics are a bad idea.

Keigo Oyamada, the composer for Japan’s Olympic opening ceremony, is set to resign Monday, according to The Telegraph. This resignation comes as a result of Oyamada admitting to bullying disabled classmates in past magazine interviews, and the outcry that came from the public at the resurfacing of said interviews.

In two interviews from 1994 and 1995 he described the abuse he inflicted upon his peers. According to The Telegraph, he locked a disabled classmate in a box, taped a box around his head and poured chalk inside, wrapped him in a mattress and kicked him, and other vile things like making him eat his own feces and “forcing him to masturbate in front of other students.”

What’s surprising, and shows how far the Tokyo Olympics have fallen, is that chief executive Toshiro Muto said on Saturday according to The Guardian, “He is sorry for his past actions and he has said that he wants to act with higher moral standards.” That was followed with, “We have heard Oyamada’s apology and we are hoping that he will continue to contribute to the Tokyo Games.”

It’s news like this and the dwindling support for the Tokyo Olympics in the first place that has made it so even Toyota, one of the biggest sponsors for the Games, is pulling their TV ads. According to NBC News, they also confirmed that the carmaker’s president and top executives will also not be attending “as the Games continue to face a skeptical Japanese public.”

Toyota backing out comes as little to no surprise because Tokyo has entered a state of emergency for about a week already due to concerns about the games, according to Reuters. Top that off with the fact that there will be no spectators at the games, and it makes sense that someone as big as Toyota would pull the plug on having their ads playing.

According to The Associated Press, Jun Nagata, Toyota’s Chief Communications Officer, told reporters, “There are many issues with these Games that are proving difficult to be understood.” And honestly, hearing this coming from the country’s top automaker really shows how opinion has shifted even more to the negative when it comes to this year’s Olympics.

Combine all of this together, and you’ve got more than one reason to cancel the Tokyo Olympics.

(image: Toru Hanai/Getty)

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Lyra Hale
Lyra (She/Her) is a queer Latinx writer who stans badass women in movies, TV shows, and books. She loves crafting, tostones, and speculating all over queer media. And when not writing she's scrolling through TikTok or rebuilding her book collection.