Tokyo 2020
What if China pulls out of the Tokyo Olympics?
Even though North Korea is the only major country to have pulled out of the Olympics, one cannot rule out other countries following the suite if the pandemic continues to rise at the current pace.
Chinese basketball team that qualified for Tokyo Olympics
The future of the already delayed Tokyo Olympics is under the scanner yet again, thanks to the rise of Covid-19 pandemic across the globe. While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Japanese government have maintained that the prestigious event would be held as decided from 23rd July 2021 to 8th August 2021, the situation all around the world is far from ideal.
Recently, North Korea became the first major country to pull out of the Tokyo Games citing the pandemic. While on the other side, a test event for Water Polo was cancelled and one of the Japanese states, Osaka barred the torch relay from its public roads and announced a health emergency owing to a sudden spike in the Covid-19 outbreak.
Even though, as of now, North Korea is the only major country to have pulled out of the Olympics in Tokyo, one cannot rule out other countries following the suite if the pandemic continues to rise at the current pace.
What happens if China pulls out of the Olympics?
China has been one of the most successful countries in the history of the Olympics. Ranked 7th in the all-time Olympic medal tally, it is highly unlikely that the China would withdraw from Tokyo considering the fact that it was one of those countries which rallied extensively to conduct the Olympics in 2020 itself.
But, what if China pulls out?
As mentioned earlier, China is an Olympic giant. It has won a total of 608 medals including 237 gold, 195 silver and 176 bronze at the Games.
If such a dominant nation like China withdraws from the Olympics, it would simply mean better medal prospects for other participating nations – especially in the sport of Badminton and Table Tennis in which China is the most successful country at the Olympics.
China is a very influential country and a withdrawal from their end could also have a very big impact on the Tokyo Olympics as a whole. Simply put, if a country as big as China pulls out from the Olympic due to the pandemic, many other nations could also follow its steps to safeguard their athletes from the deadly virus.
