PARTY TIME

Tokyo 2020 Organizers Clamp Down on Athletes Drinking in Olympic Village

COVID-19 regulations say athletes can only drink alone this year.

Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have “attended the scene” of what sounds like a pretty banal party with a handful of athletes quietly gathered for a drink inside the Olympic Village. While drinking at the Olympics is not prohibited, Japan’s COVID-19 restrictions for keeping the games safe mandate that athletes and coaches only drink alone in their rooms and not in groups. The incident, which Tokyo 2020 Director General for the Games Toshiro Muto told reporters was under control, did involve the police, though it is unclear if any arrests were made. Partying in celebration after competition has long been an Olympic game of its own, but not during the pandemic. So far, more than a dozen athletes and coaches have had their accreditation pulled for violating Tokyo’s COVID-19 regulations.