Back to the Olympics Newsfeed

At the Logistics Games, Just Arriving Is a Victory

Burner phones and loaner laptops. Quarantine training centers and a bubble the size of a small city. Departure tests and arrival tests and daily tests. So. Many. Tests.

Every Olympics presents hurdles, from distance to language to politics. But rarely have those entrusted with transporting the teams, coaches, athletes and gear faced an obstacle course like the one currently testing their organizational skills, resources and patience.

Call these the Logistics Games, because no Olympics in history have been this hard to put on, get to or be at.

The reasons, of course, are painfully clear. The coronavirus pandemic has made byzantine health measures par for the course at any sporting event, and almost every national border.