This is amazing. I barely even remember this and it didn't make a dent on anything in my life. But reading this and you compare it to the reaction to Covid-19 and the only difference is the madness caused by social media and the waterfall effect of decisions and reactions from it. Completely off the rails.
May 16, 2003
Meanwhile Olympic chief Jacques Rogge urged sports leaders last night not to overreact in the wake of the crisis caused by the deadly SARS virus. Mr Rogge warned federations not to discriminate against athletes from areas hit by the bug. At a meeting between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and summer sports federations, IOC president Mr Rogge urged sports officials not to adopt an “over-zealous” approach.
“It may be that exceptional circumstances need exceptional measures,” he said. “But today, that is far too soon.”Mr Rogge’s comments were made on the first day of an IOC Executive Board meeting in Madrid - the same week the Badminton World Championships were
due to take place in Birmingham.
China has already cancelled the Cycling world track championships, which had been planned
for Shenzen but will now take place in Stuttgart, and scrapped plans to stage this year’s women’s soccer World Cup. But Mr Rogge urged officials not to panic and warned federations not to discriminate against Asians. “Nobody knows what the situation will be in two weeks,” he said. “If governments have given approval (of travel) then there is no right to deny participation.”