Why is Dick Pound Trending on Twitter?

Charlie NashFeb 25th, 2020, 1:22 pm
 

Matt Roberts/Getty Images

Dick Pound, the longest serving member of the International Olympic Committee, became one of top trending topics on Twitter, Tuesday, after he claimed there’s a three month window to decide whether the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go ahead amid the coronavirus outbreak.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Pound said, “In and around that time, I’d say folks are going to have to ask: ‘Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo or not?’”

“A lot of things have to start happening,” he noted. “You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels. The media folks will be in there building their studios.”

Pound also predicted that if the Olympic games cannot go ahead in Tokyo this year, “you’re probably looking at a cancellation” of the games altogether.

“You just don’t postpone something on the size and scale of the Olympics. There’s so many moving parts, so many countries and different seasons, and competitive seasons, and television seasons. You can’t just say,’We’ll do it in October,'” he explained, noting “there are few places in the world that could think of gearing up facilities in that short time to put something on.”

In a message to athletes, however, the IOC member reassured them that “as far as we all know, you’re going to be in Tokyo,” and “all indications are at this stage that it will be business as usual.”

“So keep focused on your sport and be sure that the IOC is not going to send you into a pandemic situation,” he declared.

Pound’s predictions quickly made waves on social media– partly because of the severity of a potentially cancelled Olympics, but also because of the IOC member’s name and how he’s the “longest-serving member” of the committee.

Because of this, Pound’s name made Twitter’s top trending topics on Tuesday afternoon.

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