Olympic Games 2020: Bruce McAvaney confident coronavirus won’t interrupt Tokyo spectacular
Bruce McAvaney has seen ‘plenty of major issues’ in his long association with the Olympic Games, and he doesn’t see the current coronavirus scare stopping Tokyo hosting the 2020 version.
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Bruce McAvaney has seen ‘plenty of major issues’ in his long association with the Olympic Games, and he doesn’t see the current coronavirus scare stopping Tokyo hosting the 2020 version.
It’s put countries in lock down and affected over 100,000 people worldwide, but legendary broadcaster Bruce McAvaney doesn’t think the coronavirus can come between him and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The veteran presenter will be returning to cover the sporting event for the 11th time as part of Channel 7’s coverage — and he says in decades in the game, no Olympics have happened without a hiccup.
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“Without trivialising it, every Olympics I’ve been to there have been major issues. In 1988 just before we went to Seoul, the North Koreans shot a South Korean plane out of the sky,” he told News Corp Australia.
“There were tanks outside our village and snipers on the roof. Nothing’s changed. In Rio it was the zika virus. It doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm at all because history tells me this has been an ongoing thing.
“There has always been a nightmare period before every games and then the honeymoon sets in.”
Seven’s line-up at the Games will also include Mel McLaughlin and Hamish McLachlan as hosts.
The pair said it is entirely possible Olympians could perform to empty stadiums if the virus spread continues.
“When Cate Campbell steps up to the blocks, whether there is 35,000 in the aquatic centre or not will be irrelevant. She needs to swim faster than everybody else and if she does then she’s in the record books forever,” McLachlan said.
“It’ll obviously be nice if the stadium is full, but if the Olympics go ahead (even without the crowd) it will still be the very best of the world on our television screens.”
The pair will also be joined by Johanna Griggs, Sonia Kruger, Lisa Sthalekar, Trent Copeland and Abbey Way over 17 days and the best sporting entertainment possibles.
Five-time gold medallist Ian Thorpe will also join the commentary team along with cycling champion Anna Meares.
Seven has also launched 43 dedicated Olympic channels across 7, 7TWO and 7plus.