"It was the world’s athletes who forced Bach’s hand"

Christine Brennan, who broke news of the Tokyo Olympics postponement finally arriving, notes that it was the athletes who ultimately forced the loathsome IOC to understand what the rest of the world was experiencing, expecting and in the cases of Canada and Australia, forcing.

The athletes of the world needed Bach, once an Olympic athlete himself, a gold-medal-winning fencer from Germany, to be a leader at this crucial moment in history. What they found instead was a man who failed to rise to the challenge of the moment, who failed to understand that answers and empathy were essential, who chose a “business as usual, the Games must go on” stance when that became absolutely the worst possible position to take.

Some day, when things return to normal, we can look back on this latest hiccup for the Olympic movement and consider how golf best fits going forward. But for now, at least, we no longer have to see speculation about who will make teams or worry about the preparation being hampered and instead focus on those in need.