After a year of waiting, the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics are underway and the excitement is electric. But what are the risks of a terror attack during the Games? A new study published in the journal Risk Analysis offers insight to the likelihood of terrorism during the Olympics or other major events such as the Superbowl or FIFA World Cup, which are attractive targets for terrorist groups due to the large scale of spectators and athletes. Using a novel method to analyze the risk and strategy defense against terrorist attacks in sports-mega events, researchers at Loughborough University in England suggest the findings could help improve security at events by identifying the optimal allocation of defense resources through sophisticated decision analytics. According to the study, certain defense investments lower the chances of success by the assailant, resulting in terrorists not carrying out the attack.The research cites the Munich Olympics attack in 1972, when 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian gunmen, offering hope that the new findings will prevent a similar tragedy.
How do experts prevent the risk of terror attack at the Olympics?
Research on preventing attacks at events like the Olympics, cites the Munich Olympics attack in 1972, when 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian gunmen as an example.
