Olympic pandemic

The 2020 Olympics held in 2021 was like no other. It was the first ever Olympics to have been postponed. Previously, two Olympics were cancelled during the two world wars, but never postponed. It was the first-time karate, surfing, climbing and skateboard featured, and baseball and softball returned after a 13-year absence.
 
It was also the first time the Olympics took place during a pandemic, meaning athletes had to adjust to daily COVID tests, no spectators, only being in the Olympic Village for five days before and two days after their event, and if the athlete caught COVID, their Games were over. Thankfully no Kiwi athlete or team member were infected.
 
If the Olympics were not already expensive enough, hosting the Olympics during a global pandemic made it more so. The postponement added additional costs including renegotiating new venue leases, maintaining arenas, managing the fact that some of the 5,632 apartments making up the Athletes Village had already been sold, and additional costs in terms of COVID protocols.
 
Before it was announced that no spectators would be allowed at the games, ticket demand exceeded supply by 10 times, which was expected to raise $1 billion for local organisers. This hit the hospitality sector and is estimated to result in an additional loss of $1.4 billion. The 2020 Olympic budget sat at $15 billion, up 22 percent from the budget before the postponement and more than twice the estimated budget presented when Tokyo won the bid for the Olympics in 2013.