Simon Denyer Explores The Legacy of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Simon Denyer is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has been working for the Washington Post for over 20 years. He has been the publication’s Bureau Chief for Pakistan, Afghanistan, New York, Latin America, and Africa. Besides this, he makes regular appearances on TV news channels in the UK, US, and India to share an opinion on various matters.
Simon Denyer is best known for leading a team of Post journalists who worked on a series of articles on climate change action that won them the prestigious 2020 Pulitzer Award. His most recent notable work explored the legacy of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The dilemma of the increasing cost of the Olympics
Simon Denyer mentioned that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 after being postponed following the pandemic outbreak, have a complex legacy. Firstly, since the 1960s, the cost of hosting the Olympics has been getting higher for host cities or nations. For the 2020 edition of the Olympics, Tokyo had put a budget of about $15 billion.
The post postponing of the event meant that city had to spend an additional $2 billion to keep everything in order. The Washington Post journalist said that after the conclusion of the event, Japan’s government auditors reported that the event cost about $25 billion in total. This makes it a candidate for the most expensive Olympics ever.
The silver lining
Despite the cost issue, many people consider the 2020 Tokyo Olympics successful and a perfect example of how there can still be a lot to be celebrated even during a time of hardships. Simon Denyer stated that apart from the World Wars, the Olympics have never faced a more significant threat than the Covid 19 pandemic. The fact that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics went on without any major incidences and witnessed lots of world records being set will inspire generations. Simon Denyer’s: Facebook Page.
