Tokyo 2020 Olympics sustainability in question

The Olympic Games continue to be a major contributor to environmental harm through its growing size and reach, but the Tokyo 2020 Games presented an interesting case due to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic which delayed the Games and then prevented spectators from attending. Following a previous methodology for measuring the sustainability of the Olympics in environmental, economic, and social dimensions, this study focuses on that particular edition to see how it compares to versions of the Games that follow the norm. Data was collected through publicly available data from organizers, governments, and the popular press.

Findings suggest that the Tokyo 2020 Games were originally projected to be the most unsustainable Games of all events between 1992 and 2020, but that the pandemic disruption turned their fortunes to being the most sustainable edition of Games between 1992 and 2020. This is due to the reduction in event and visitor footprint from travel. However, venues were already built and the public of Tokyo widely disapproved of the 2021-delayed Games, among other poor sustainability scores. Thus, these Games should be considered a fluke in Olympic sustainability. This demonstates to managers that the Games are still incredibly harmful and that more effort must be made to prevent gigantism and to decrease the environmental impact of the Olympics.

CITE: Trendafilova, S., Ross, W. J., Triantafyllidis, S., & Pelcher, J. (2023). Tokyo 2020 Olympics sustainability: An elusive concept or reality? International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 58 (3), 469-490. doi: 10.1177/10126902221110157

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