How COVID-19 has Changed International Sports
By Céline Zahno | International | February 24, 2022
Cover Illustration: Padel racket and ball. IGfotojonas / Pixabay
Metro International reporter Céline Zahno considers the many changes that have occurred in the world of international sports since the start of the pandemic. From the Winter Olympics to the Australian Open, large sporting events have not been without their controversies, and she asks whether things will ever return to normal.
Olympic opening ceremonies are usually highly anticipated and create headlines around the world for their glorious displays of national athletes; the 2008 opening of the Summer Games in Beijing still sits in the back of a sports enthusiast’s mind for its lavish program. The director of both the 2008 and 2022 ceremonies, Zhang Yimou, tells CNN that the summer games were the perfect chance to show China’s history and culture to a global audience, and regrets that this year’s options were far more limited. In the midst of the Omicron variant ravaging the world and attendees from all over the world challenging China’s “zero COVID” policy, most media attention highlighted the fact that the opening ceremony took place despite evident controversies.
The Winter Olympics have become a miniature stage for geopolitics, where the actual sport seems more like a side program to all the debates regarding the pandemic and interstate relations. Concerns about large-scale sports events that are at high risk of becoming ‘super-spreader’ events have grown particularly tight in the lead-up to this year’s Winter Olympics. The sports world has come a long way to grapple with COVID but is far from adapting fully to the public health crisis. On top of that, China pursues a “zero-COVID” policy and is determined to prove its ability to deliver despite the arrival of over three thousand foreigners for the occasion. While China’s decision to forbid foreign visitors at the event might have helped achieve this goal, it conversely ended up enhancing the political conflicts surrounding the games. Some argued that large sports events should be canceled altogether in the wake of the Omicron wave. Seeing as sports events are among the most common forms of social gatherings, taking a stricter stance in regulating them could contribute to societal acceptance of other COVID policies.
The Olympics is only the latest international sports occasion compromised as a result of the pandemic. In the last weeks, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic’s epic journey to the Australian Open created headlines around the world. Amid Australia’s harsh lockdowns and travel restrictions throughout the last two years, Djokovic entering the country unvaccinated quickly became a matter of global outrage. It is generally agreed that certain exceptions to rules are made for international athletes and competitors, but Djokovic’s case has pushed beyond the boundaries of what is accepted by the public. The Australian government proved indecisive on the matter for a long time before taking a final stance and at a virtual hearing, where concerns were expressed about his unfair treatment. What might be one of the most bizarre episodes of the tennis world’s history, is yet another instance where the distinction between sports and politics blurs in the era of the pandemic.
Whether the Olympics should take place in the way it currently is, and whether Djokovic should have been able to stay in Australia to play at the Open remains up for speculation and much public debate. However, what is clear is that it is the athletes and fans that end up carrying the consequences of the controversies and logistic difficulties that the pandemic has brought into sports. In 2018, German skier Felix Neureuther already expressed concerns that the grandness of Olympic events reached in Russia, South Korea, and China fails to entice the enthusiasm of the larger public, and advocated for smaller and more local games. The pandemic has exacerbated this distance between the population and sports. Social distancing, empty stadiums and international travel restrictions have fundamentally changed the role of sports in society. What it means to athletes and fans, however, has stayed the same. Whether that is enough to bring the sports industry back to its pre-pandemic state, remains to be seen.
The Olympics is only the latest international sports occasion compromised as a result of the pandemic. In the last weeks, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic’s epic journey to the Australian Open created headlines around the world. Amid Australia’s harsh lockdowns and travel restrictions throughout the last two years, Djokovic entering the country unvaccinated quickly became a matter of global outrage. It is generally agreed that certain exceptions to rules are made for international athletes and competitors, but Djokovic’s case has pushed beyond the boundaries of what is accepted by the public. The Australian government proved indecisive on the matter for a long time before taking a final stance and at a virtual hearing, where concerns were expressed about his unfair treatment. What might be one of the most bizarre episodes of the tennis world’s history, is yet another instance where the distinction between sports and politics blurs in the era of the pandemic.
Whether the Olympics should take place in the way it currently is, and whether Djokovic should have been able to stay in Australia to play at the Open remains up for speculation and much public debate. However, what is clear is that it is the athletes and fans that end up carrying the consequences of the controversies and logistic difficulties that the pandemic has brought into sports. In 2018, German skier Felix Neureuther already expressed concerns that the grandness of Olympic events reached in Russia, South Korea, and China fails to entice the enthusiasm of the larger public, and advocated for smaller and more local games. The pandemic has exacerbated this distance between the population and sports. Social distancing, empty stadiums and international travel restrictions have fundamentally changed the role of sports in society. What it means to athletes and fans, however, has stayed the same. Whether that is enough to bring the sports industry back to its pre-pandemic state, remains to be seen.
Céline Zahno is a student at the University of Amsterdam. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Amsterdammer.
