It turns out that Abe won't be around — at least not in an official capacity — when the postponed Olympics are set to open on July 23, 2021.
Abe called in “gut wrenching” to leave with so many plans unfinished. The most visible one — at least to the public outside Japan — was the Olympics. “I think this likely is heartbreaking for Abe,” David Leheny, who teaches politics at Tokyo's Waseda University, wrote in an email. There is no guarantee the Olympics will even take place. The IOC and organizers have said it will, but so far they have not said how it can happen. There are questions about quarantines, fans being allowed, vaccines — and the logistics of getting 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes safely into Tokyo.Add to this thousands of officials, staff and media — and the fact the control of the outbreak is so different in countries or territories represented by 206 national Olympic committees.
“All the Japanese athletes and the athletes of the entire world are very grateful to him,” Bach said.Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister and the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, also credited Abe.