Tokyo 2020: Matsuyama understands Japan’s virus concerns but hopes Olympics can happen
- Health experts and medical groups in Japan are among those who have cautioned against holding the Games
The Masters champion said the United States is further along in its efforts to vaccinate people against the virus than in Japan, where only about 3.5 per cent of its population of about 126 million has been vaccinated.
“Just look around today, lots of people are here watching golf without masks, where in Japan they’re still very cautious. I can certainly understand those people who are voicing their opinion about the Olympics.”
Health experts and medical groups in Japan are among those who have cautioned against holding the Games, while an online petition calling for them to be cancelled was signed by hundreds of thousands of people.
Matsuyama said he was looking forward to competing at the Games but said he is primarily concerned with winning more major tournaments after he became the first Japanese man to do so with his triumph at Augusta National.
“As a golfer, the four majors are really what we strive to win. Not that we don’t try to win the Olympics, but those are the events that are very important,” he said.
He would feel sympathy for athletes in sports where the Olympics are far and away the most important competition.
“There are other sports where the Olympics are the ultimate, the pinnacle of their sport, and so I hope that the Olympics will be able to be held and in a great fashion that will make my fellow Japanese citizens proud,” he said.
The Tokyo Games are scheduled to begin on July 23.
