Olympic chief Thomas Bach had 'sleepless nights' over Tokyo Games

IOC chief insists 'cancellation was never an option for us' and holding the event was showing 'way out of this crisis'

Egyptian table tennis player Dina Meshref practices ahead of the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.

US softball player Haylie McCleney trains at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka trains at the Center Court Ariake Tennis Park.

Great Britain tennis player Andy Murray practices ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Members of South Africa's Olympic football team work out ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan.

An athlete from Portugal practices for the skateboarding competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo.

A Japanese softball player tosses the balls into a basket during a training session at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2021, in Fukushima, Japan.

Germany and Australia hockey teams take part in a scrimmage match at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

The USA's beach volleyball team practice ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

USA softball player Dejah Mulipola takes batting practice during a training session at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.

Members of the Italian women's softball team warm up during a training session at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.

Japanese tennis player Kei Nishikori during training ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

A Japanese softball player bows before walking onto the field during the team's training session at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.

Members of the Japanese women's softball team train at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach admitted that he has had many “sleepless nights” over staging the Tokyo Games.

The Olympics and Paralympics were postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the rearranged Games' opening ceremony is due to take place on Friday.

But the build-up to Friday has been exceptionally problematic, with Tokyo still under a state of emergency and public opinion fiercely against the Games, which will be held largely without spectators.

“Over the past 15 months we had to take many decisions on very uncertain grounds. We had doubts every day. We deliberated and discussed. There were sleepless nights,” said Bach at an IOC session in Tokyo.

“This also weighed on us, it weighed on me. But in order to arrive at this day today we had to give confidence, had to show a way out of this crisis.”

Protests have followed Bach during his visit to Japan, where the latest poll in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed 55 per cent of respondents oppose holding the Games now.

But Olympic and Japanese officials have staunchly defended the Games, which are being held in a strict biosecure bubble with daily testing. About 80 per cent of athletes have been vaccinated.

"The IOC never abandons the athletes,” added Bach on Tuesday. “Cancellation would have been the easy way for us. We could have drawn on the insurance that we had at the time and moved on to Paris 2024.

“But in fact, cancellation was never an option for us. In order to arrive at this day today, we had to give confidence. We had to show a way out of this crisis. We had to provide stability. We had to build trust. We had to give hope.”

However, Toshiro Muto, the head of the Games organising committee, did not rule out a late cancellation of the event if there is a surge in Covid-19 cases.

“We will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases,” said Muto. “We have agreed that based on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks again. At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises.”

There have been 67 cases of Covid-19 infections in Japan among those accredited for the Games since July 1, when many athletes and officials started arriving, according to organisers.

Japan, whose vaccination programme has lagged that of most other developed nations, has recorded more than 840,000 cases and 15,055 deaths and Games host city Tokyo is experiencing a fresh surge, with 1,387 cases recorded on Tuesday.

The first major test of how an Olympics can be held in the midst of a pandemic may well come in the men's football tournament on Thursday, when Japan face a South Africa side that could struggle to field 11 players due to the coronavirus.

Two members of Mexico's Olympic baseball team tested positive at the team hotel before their departure for Tokyo.

The athletes, Hector Velazquez and Sammy Solis, who tested positive on Sunday, have been isolated, as have all team members pending results of more tests, the country's baseball federation said on Tuesday.