Amid doubts about the implementation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan symbolically ignited the spirit of optimism through the Olympic flames brought from Greece. The hope is that the Olympic flame will burn the Covid-19 virus in all countries.
Japan is still optimistic that the Tokyo Olympics will continue to be held on July 24 to August 9. Although the results of a poll conducted by the Forbes website the majority of Japanese citizens expect the Olympics to be postponed, but the IOC still asks athletes to continue training.
Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, in the last statement still insisted that he did not want to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. "We are currently working hard to overcome the spread of the corona virus so that we as the Olympic host can carry out the event without problems and on schedule," said Shinzo Abe On Saturday (3/14/2020), quoted from the Forbes website.
The statement then received a negative response from various groups, such as athletes to many countries' Olympic committees. The majority of opinions said holding the Tokyo 2020 Olimipade according to plan would be very dangerous because it would gather many people from athletes to tourists from various countries to one place.
However, Japan's optimism shone in the event of handing over the Olympic flame at the Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 19, 2020. Chairman of the Greek Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, handed over the Olympic flames to the Japanese swimmer who appeared at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Naoko Imoto.
The fire is stored in small lanterns to take home to Japan. Hopefully the fire which is a symbol of enthusiasm will also burn Covid-19 throughout the world so that the Olympics on schedule and the pandemic will soon end.[]
Api Olimpiade 2020 Membakar Covid-19
Di tengah keraguan pelaksanaan Olimpiade Tokyo 2020, secara simbolis Jepang membakar semangat optimisme melalui nyala api Olimpiade yang dibawa dari Yunani. Harapannya, api Olimpiade ikut membakar virus Covid-19 di semua negara.
Jepang masih tetap optimis Olimpiade Tokyo tetap digelar pada 24 Juli – 9 Agustus mendatang. Kendati hasil polling yang digelar situs Forbes mayoritas warga Jepang mengharapkan penyelenggaraan Olimpiade ditunda, tetapi IOC tetap meminta para atlet tetap berlatih.
Perdana Menteri Jepang, Shinzo Abe, dalam keterangan terakhir masih bersikeras tidak ingin menunda Olimpiade Tokyo 2020. "Kami saat ini sedang berusaha keras mengatasi penyebaran virus corona sehingga kami selaku tuan rumah Olimpiade bisa melaksanakan ajang tersebut tanpa masalah dan sesuai jadwal," ujar Shinzo Abe, Sabtu (14/3/2020), dikutip dari situs Forbes.
Pernyataan itu kemudian mendapat respons negatif dari berbagai kalangan, seperti atlet hingga komite Olimpiade banyak negara. Mayoritas pendapat menyebut menggelar Olimipade Tokyo 2020 sesuai rencana akan sangat berbahaya karena akan mengumpulkan banyak orang dari atlet hingga wisatawan dari berbagai negara ke satu tempat.
Namun, optimisme Jepang terpancar dalam acara penyerahan api Olimpiade di Stadion Panathenaic, Athena, Yunani, Kamis 19 Maret 2020. Ketua Komite Olimpiade Yunani, Spyros Capralos, menyerahkan api Olimpiade kepada perenang Jepang yang tampil di Olimpiade Atlanta 1996, Naoko Imoto.
Api tersebut disimpan dalam lentera kecil untuk dibawa pulang ke Jepang. Semoga api yang merupakan symbol semangat tersebut ikut membakar Covid-19 di seluruh dunia sehingga penyelenggaraan Olimpiade sesuai jadwal dan pandemic segera berakhir.[]
