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May 12, 2021

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Nadal joins chorus of Tokyo fears

Source: AFP | 00:11 UTC+8 May 12, 2021 | Print Edition

Two-time Olympic champion Rafael Nadal yesterday became the latest top tennis player to admit that he had not yet decided whether he would participate in the Tokyo Games this summer, still giving himself time to decide according to “circumstances.”

The 34-year-old Spaniard won gold in the singles in Beijing in 2008, adding another gold in the doubles with Marc Lopez in Rio de Janeiro five years ago.

“In a normal world I would never consider missing the Olympics. There is no doubt about that,” he said at a press conference ahead of his opening match at the Italian Open in Milan.

“Everybody knows how important the Olympics are for me.

“Under these circumstances, I don’t know. Let’s see what’s going on in the next couple of months.

“But I need to organize my schedule. I don’t know yet. Honestly I can’t give you a clear answer because I don’t know.

“In a normal year, I know my schedule almost 100 percent from January 1 until the end of the season. This year is a little bit different, no?

“We need to be flexible. We need to adapt to the things that are happening. I don’t know, I can’t give you an accurate answer. Sorry.”

Nadal is the latest tennis star to voice his concerns about the Tokyo Games.

On Monday, Serena Williams said she was undecided about going to the Olympics while Japanese stars Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori have both raised concerns about whether Tokyo should be hosting the Games at all.

“I’m an athlete, and of course my immediate thought is that I want to play in the Olympics,” Osaka told the BBC.

“But as a human, I would say we’re in a pandemic, and if people aren’t healthy, and if they’re not feeling safe, then it’s definitely a really big cause for concern.”

Nishikori said there “definitely should be a discussion” on whether Tokyo should plough ahead.

“I don’t know how much they are thinking about how they are gonna make (a) bubble, because this is not like 100 people,” he said. “It’s 10,000 people in the village and playing tournaments. So I don’t think it’s easy, especially (with) what’s happening right now in Japan.”

A top politician also warned that Japan still had to make a “careful decision” about whether to hold the Games, which have scant public support, according to opinion polls.

Scrapping the 2020 Olympics, postponed last year as the pandemic advanced, is an idea that has never quite gone away, despite repeated assertions from officials that they will proceed.

A series of test events have been cancelled, postponed or held behind closed doors, underlining the challenges facing organizers.

And an increasing number of sections of the Olympic torch relay have been scaled back and moved off-road to prevent people from gathering to watch, with the relay legs in Hiroshima and Yamaguchi the latest casualties, organizers said yesterday.

The Olympics are due to run from July 23 to August 8.

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