“It would be disastrous for their leagues and disastrous for their personal reputations if they made rash decisions,” Costas told Vanity Fair.
“No one is going to do anything without a very sound medical and sociological basis to do it. My feeling is we shouldn’t rush into anything just because people miss it. We miss a lot of things.”
Costas, who was the face of NBC’s Olympics coverage for decades before leaving the network last year, is a contributor to MLB Network, on which he made an appearance from his home last week. He said that postponing this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo until next year was “inevitable.”
“Although it would be foolhardy to resume any sports, by degree, the Olympics would be even more foolhardy,” Costas added. “Think about it: you’re going to bring over 10,000 athletes from every corner of the globe, from every nation, you’re going to bring them all together, along with all their delegations, along with all the media. They’re going to live together in the Olympic Village. They’re going to stand shoulder to shoulder, then they’re going to return to their respective countries. It would be crazy to be playing baseball as we speak. It would be crazy to be playing basketball as we speak. But when you think of the macro effect, the Olympics would be the craziest of them all.”
