Initially slated to begin in July 2020, the Tokyo Olympic Games were officially postponed until July 2021 by the International Olympic Committee and then Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe after Australia and other countries threatened not to send their athletes to compete due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, following two weeks of enthralling sporting events and international competition, the Games are drawing to a close, and the early COVID-fuelled trepidations are a distant memory. Writing in The Diplomat, Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr John Lee says Japan made the right move by going ahead with the Olympics, describing them as a "brave testament to the possibility of living with COVID-19, while keeping the worst effects at bay".