Setting a new record for Olympic blowout
Tokyo 2020
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have cost more than any other modern Olympic event due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. But costs don’t stop with the host country.
Only months into the COVID-19 Pandemic, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, originally scheduled for July 2020, would be postponed until 2021.
The postponement cost competing nations millions of dollars. For Japan, it’s added an estimated ¥294 billion ($4b AUD) to the planned cost of hosting the games.
The recent decision to ban spectators mere weeks out from the games is estimated to have stripped Japan of a further ¥90 billion ($1b AUD) in ticket sales.
The total cost of the games is now estimated at around $33b AUD, and with the IOC contributing only $650m, Tokyo 2020 is now the most expensive modern Olympic Games.
In light of the state of emergency implemented in Tokyo, it has been decided at a five-party meeting today that no spectators will be allowed into any venues in Tokyo during the Olympic Games.
— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) July 8, 2021
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For Australia, the cost of postponement comes down to supporting the more than 300 Olympic hopefuls’ planning to represent the country on the world stage.
The recent Federal Budget has put Australia’s elite athletes on the receiving end of more than $130m. This funding will be used to support competitors training towards the Olympic Games and ensure that the global pandemic doesn’t harm Australia’s place in the sporting world.
On the 30th of June 2020, then-minister for sport Richard Colbeck announced that $50.6m from the federal government would be spent “to back our athletes” and ensure that “Australia remains a world-leading sporting nation”.
Athletes already performing at high levels are grateful for the support, with Artistic Swimmer Alessandra Ho describing how the money has helped full-time athletes:
“Minister [Mick] Murray from WA, he was really supportive. And he, I think, gave us $4,000, which was really nice and helped us a lot financially. And WAIS (Western Australian Institute of Sport), they've covered all our costs this year. Because we're actually staying in Canberra and training [here] full time… a lot of us had to give up our jobs to move to Canberra. So, it's definitely been a big help.”
Four elite athletes from the UTS Rowing Club have been training for the Olympics since 2016, aiming to peak during 2020. But a four-year schedule has been stretched out to five by postponement
Four elite athletes from the UTS Rowing Club have been training for the Olympics since 2016, aiming to peak during 2020. But a four-year schedule has been stretched out to five by postponement
Alex Field is the Senior Coach at the UTS Rowing Club.
Alex Field is the Senior Coach at the UTS Rowing Club.
A spokesperson for Senator Colbeck added that the grant of $50.6m“is over and above an existing base investment in direct grants to National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) of more than $125m per annum, including $14m in direct athlete grants.”
When added to the further $138.2m in the Federal Budget, $82.2m of which is “in support for athlete performance pathways and mental health and wellbeing” it’s clear that sports funding is a priority for the federal government.
But the consequence of this funding being allocated directly to the NSOs is that the money only reaches the wider sporting industry through a trickle-down effect: starting with the Australian Institute of Sport, which then divides the funds between discipline-specific organisations, as outlined in their investment guidelines.
But the community clubs who create our future elite athletes are suffering, as other supporting sectors such as higher education suffer during the pandemic.
The postponed Games are planned to run from Friday, 23 July until Sunday, 8 August 2021, but will keep the “Tokyo 2020” branding as a symbolic “beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times”.
