EYE OF THE STORM

Certainty around major international sporting events is a thing of the past (and, hopefully, the not-too-distant future) but it seems the postponed 2020 Olympic Games will officially begin in Tokyo on July 23.

The stakes are high. As well as the emotions of athletes who have trained for years for perhaps their only opportunity to be an Olympian, there’s evident resistance to the notion that combating Covid-19 requires us to pull back from doing what comes naturally – the mindset that “I’m not going to be pushed around by a goddamn virus.”

And there’s the bottom line: Japan has officially sunk US$15.4 billion into staging the games, although government audits indicate the true outlay is