Florida is offering to host the 2021 Olympics amid speculation that Tokyo may back out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Florida Chief Financial Officer
"I am writing to encourage you to consider relocating the 2021 Olympics from Tokyo, Japan to the United States of America, and more specifically to Florida," Patronis wrote.
"With media reports of leaders in Japan 'privately' concluding that they are too concerned about the pandemic for the 2021 Olympics to take place, there is still time to deploy a site selection team to Florida," he added.
Patronis praised Florida's hotel capacity and transportation infrastructure, and used the 2020 NBA 'bubble' as an example.
"Additionally, our international tourist destinations, like Disney parks have been open and operating safely in Florida for some time. In fact, Disney serves as an incredible model for how to run a complex organization in the midst of COVID-19," Patronis wrote.
"Whatever precautions are required let's figure it out and get it done," he concluded.
Gold medalist Katerina Stefanidi supports 2021 Tokyo Olympics
Reigning Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi has spoken out strongly in favour of going ahead with the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
It is recalled last year, she accused the International Olympic Committee of putting athletes “at risk” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Stefanidi told Japan’s Kyodo news agency that it would be better to hold the Olympics without fans than not at all, adding that she thought athletes were overwhelmingly in favour of competing.
“I think that it’s a very different situation than what we had last year, where we didn’t really know anything about the virus,” she added.
Australian Olympic Committee denies report that the 2021 Tokyo Olympics are cancelled
The Australian Olympic Committee denied reports that the 2021 Tokyo Olympics are cancelled.
The 2020 Olympics was pushed back to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report in The Times, reveals that Japan has given up on any hope of hosting the Games and will now look for hosting rights to the 2032 Games instead.
Australian Olympic Committee chef de mission for the 2021 Games, Ian Chesterman insisted the report was nothing more than a rumour.
“It’s unfortunate that our athlete’s have to deal with this rumour mill,” he told Triple M.
Decisions on whether to allow overseas fans, and how full venues will be, are set to be taken in the coming months.
