Thousands of Olympic volunteers quit ahead of Tokyo Games

Thousands of volunteers for the Tokyo Olympics have quit ahead of the start of the games next month.

Officials with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said that as of Wednesday, about 10,000 of the 80,000 registered volunteers had pulled out of the games, CNN reported.

According to the news outlet, the committee’s chief executive, Toshiro Muto, said that he doesn’t believe the withdrawals would impact the operations of the games.

Muto told reporters that there was “no doubt” that volunteers were worried about becoming infected with COVID-19, but some cited personal reasons, The New York Times reported.

The games are set to open on July 23 after being pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But amid a new wave of coronavirus infections and a lagging coronavirus vaccination rate, there has been growing pressure from inside and outside of Japan to cancel the games again.

As Reuters notes, Tokyo and nine other regions are under a state of emergency.

But organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto told Nikkan Sports newspaper that the games could not be canceled again, Reuters reported.

“We cannot postpone again,” she told the newspaper.

“I believe that the possibility of these Games going on is 100% that we will do this. … One thing the organising committee commits and promises to all the athletes out there is that we will defend and protect their health.”

This isn’t the first time volunteers have pulled out of the Olympic games.

The Times noted that around 1,000 volunteers previously quit around the time that former organizing committee chair Yoshiro Mori came under fire for saying that “women talk too much in meetings.” Mori resigned in mid-February.