Snuffed Torch

If things had unfolded as the International Olympic Committee ordained, you could be watching the basketball finals at the Tokyo Olympics instead of reading the Literary Review of Canada right now. But even a Swiss-­based, self-­appointed, ultra-­wealthy, mainly male “non-­profit” sports club that makes billions couldn’t stop the pandemic from shutting down the Summer Games. Who knows about the rescheduled Games, now slotted for late July and early August 2021, or the Beijing Winter Olympics, which would be only six months later? Without an effective vaccine against COVID‑19, how could international broadcasters, the ever-­expanding “Olympic Family” of sponsors and entourages, or fans be expected to show up for either eighteen-day party? More to the point, the athletes, whose brilliant performances constitute the goods that the IOC sells for those broadcast billions, would be no‑shows — at least if the IOC wants to appear like it cares about...