# What happens if Japan cancels the Olympics? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** olympic-sports-track\ **Created:** [May 27, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038 "2021-05-27T14:24:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/101 "2021-06-11T00:58:39Z")
Not to the standard of the IOC, which requires certain minimum seating capacities and broadcast facilities for each venue. Every big city has an olympic-sized swimming pool, but few have one that can accommodate 20,000 spectators, a few dozen judges and officials, and a 40-person TV crew. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/102 "2021-06-11T01:02:07Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > The financial consequences goes well beyond Japan and may severely impact poorer countries who have spent a lot of money and time preparing their athletes. Oh come on. Show me one of those “poorer countries” that has spent as much as even 1% of their annual budget on prepping their teams. > [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > Easiest “oh shit move the Olympics by this August” is probably Los Angeles. Oh please gawd no. 😱 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/103 "2021-06-12T13:28:55Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Aren’t those all plentiful in any major city? Not even close. How many cities have a velodrome, for example? Or a BMX course of Olympic quality? There are way too many sports that require specialized locations/equipment/etc. that most major cities don’t have because other than Olympic athletes nobody uses them. The big problem with having the games take place in so many different cities at once will be that the amount of Olympic sex will plummet. At the last Winter Games in South Korea they supplied enough condoms that it averaged 37 per competitor. What else do you think all those fantastically-fit, attractive people do when their event is over? I know a couple of people who have competed in the Olympics. “Target-rich environment” doesn’t even _begin_ to cover it. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/104 "2021-06-12T15:02:17Z")
The sex stories out of Olympic Villages are indeed marvelous to read. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/105 "2021-06-12T15:52:54Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > The financial consequences goes well beyond Japan and may severely impact poorer countries who have spent a lot of money and time preparing their athletes. Prep expenses are sunk costs, and don’t get worse if the event is cancelled. What would the actual _additional_ cost (or loss of revenue) to poor countries be if the Olympics don’t happen? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/106 "2021-06-12T16:06:51Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Prep expenses are sunk costs, and don’t get worse if the event is cancelled. What would the actual _additional_ cost (or loss of revenue) to poor countries be if the Olympics don’t happen? One possibility might be the reduction in funding for Olympic athlete training in the future. The local interest in watching hometown athletes compete provides support for taxes and donations that help fund the coaches and facilities that the athletes use for training. Without the Olympics, perhaps those funding sources dry up and the countries can’t pay the coaches or keep the facilities running anymore. Even if the athlete self-funds their training and Olympic costs, some of their friends and family may be reluctant to continue donating if they feel their donation was wasted since the Olympics were cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/107 "2021-06-12T17:04:34Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Not to the standard of the IOC, which requires certain minimum seating capacities and broadcast facilities for each venue. Every big city has an olympic-sized swimming pool, but few have one that can accommodate 20,000 spectators, a few dozen judges and officials, and a 40-person TV crew. Olympic-sized pools aren’t as common as people think - most people have never been in or near one. That big pool at the local community center is probably not Olympic-sized. Furthermore, even if you do have a 50-metre pool, it needs electronic timing pads, and that’s a rare find. ---
**Author:** ![ThatCanadianGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ThatCanadianGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatCanadianGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/108 "2021-06-14T13:42:37Z")
I think that’s true. I remember my dad telling me in the 1970s that the pool at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada was intentionally built one cm shorter than olympic size simply because they didn’t want events happening there. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/109 "2021-06-14T13:51:20Z")
Doesn’t that also mean they can’t have a varsity swim team (because presumably competitions with other schools require an Olympic-class pool)? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/110 "2021-06-14T14:00:06Z")
It could be that the pool was one cm narrower but that’s not it. The story is beyond obviously bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/111 "2021-06-14T14:03:23Z")
Actually it sounds like the urban legend about the university library that was built without planning for the weight of the books. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/112 "2021-06-14T14:06:27Z")
Yep. I went to UC San Diego in the 80s and that rumor was persistent which makes some sense because of the unique design. I later heard that other schools had the same rumor. [![](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisel_Library#/media/File%3AGeisel_Library%2C_UCSD.jpg) ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisel_Library#/media/File%3AGeisel_Library%2C_UCSD.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/113 "2021-06-14T14:09:58Z")
We had the same rumor at the school I attended, although if true, it would have been particularly ironic, given that it was an engineering school. (Although being forced to demolish that Brutalist monstrosity wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/114 "2021-06-14T16:03:53Z")
Olympic length pools are a dime a dozen. They just need to be 50 meters long. And Olympic spec pool is something completely different. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/115 "2021-06-14T16:35:22Z")
This could be where the “one inch too short” thing comes from, since it could technically become true if you took an existing 50m pool and installed Olympic-required timing pads. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/116 "2021-06-14T18:01:14Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > The sex stories out of Olympic Villages are indeed marvelous to read On the other hand, Peter Sagal once had an Olympian as a guest on _Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me_, (can’t recall her name). He asked her about the big bowl of condoms in the Village, that’s always empty by the end of the Games. She said that everybody takes some, whether they intend to use them or not. She didn’t have sex while she was there, but she still grabbed a handful, because “official condoms of the Olympic Games” are a helluva souvenir. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/117 "2021-06-14T19:06:13Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > She didn’t have sex while she was there, but … That’s her story and she’s stickin’ to it. 😉 Considering the other souvenirs available, namely the memories of makin’ it with the most fantastic specimens on Earth of your preferred gender(s), I have a hard time believing too many athletes skipped the chance. I sure wouldn’t have. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038/118 "2021-06-14T19:35:56Z")
“Mom, dad, look at my souvenirs from the Olympics! Would you like a few to display on your mantle?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-japan-cancels-the-olympics/943038.md?page=5)