The opening ceremony for the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, is scheduled for Friday. With COVID-19 cases spiking worldwide and Japan under a state of emergency, many wonder whether the Olympics should be cancelled. Angela Ruggiero competed in four Olympic Games as a member of the U.S. women’s hockey team, winning a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, in Nagano. Ruggiero has since served on the International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee, and helped to organize Los Angeles’s successful bid to host the 2028 Summer Games. She joins the New Yorker staff writer Louisa Thomas to discuss the challenges in Tokyo and what these Games could mean for the future of the Olympics.
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The Sporting Scene
Tokyo’s Olympics Have Become the Anger Games
The Olympics are supposed to be a symbol of global togetherness, but Tokyo’s are shaping up to be the least wanted in history.
By Matt Alt
Cultural Comment
Japan’s Olympic-Sized Problem
The government’s inept response to the coronavirus pandemic has led to widespread discontent about hosting the Games.
By Matt Alt
Profiles
Miranda July Turns the Lights On
A few years ago, July began writing a novel, “All Fours,” about how middle age changes sex, marriage, and ambition. Then the novel changed her.
By Alexandra Schwartz
Letter from Biden’s Washington
Biden’s Public Ultimatum to Bibi
A hostage and ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel is “not dead,” a senior U.S. official says, but only if Netanyahu holds off on invading Rafah.
By Susan B. Glasser