'Faster, Higher, Stronger', but also safer: China Daily editorial

The upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, to start on Friday and run through Aug 8, will be remembered as the most challenging in the sports event's history given the unprecedented pressure organizers face to make sure that it is safe and secure amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With tens of thousands of overseas athletes, officials and journalists arriving in Japan's capital, there have been growing concerns infection rates could accelerate in the country, with more infectious or deadlier variants possibly being introduced.

Such worries have been heightened after two South African soccer players became the first athletes inside the Olympic Village to test positive for the virus on Sunday, in addition to the 15 positive cases that have already been reported among the overseas arrivals related to the Games this month.

To contain the spread of the virus, the Games organizers have already announced that no spectators will be allowed to enter venues in Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures. Tokyo, with 1,410 COVID-19 cases reported on Saturday and also new infections exceeding 1,000 for five straight days, is now under another state of emergency.

In the face of the stark pandemic situation, the Chinese Olympic delegation, comprising 777 athletes and officials, the largest of its kind, must maintain the highest level of vigilance. It is imperative that all members of the team bear in mind not only the Olympic motto of "Faster, Higher, Stronger", but add to it the imperative "Safer". They must strictly adhere to all the relevant Olympic anti-pandemic rules, protocols and procedures throughout the pre-Games arrival routines and during the Games. This is essential not only for their own safety, but also that of athletes from other countries they are going to compete with.

The Chinese Olympic delegation has so far done its utmost to try to keep any possible health risks to a minimum, with 99.61 percent of its members having been vaccinated. It has also designated special coronavirus prevention and control personnel for the team and devised a quick response mechanism to deal with any pandemic emergencies. For they know that despite the Olympic "bubble" they are supposed to live in once they arrive in Tokyo, with a restrictive environment, daily testing and social distancing, there are still potential risks, as evidenced by the fact that when the Chinese table tennis team arrived in Tokyo on Saturday, some Japanese fans broke the social distancing and mask-wearing rules by trying to take pictures with the Chinese players.

The good job the Chinese government has done of basically containing the spread of the virus on the Chinese mainland makes people believe that it is possible for the Chinese Olympic team to achieve the goal of "zero infections" during the Games while also winning medals on the competition grounds. Let's hope both prove to be the case.