Two major and important members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – Australia and Canada - have set the ball rolling for the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. While the Australian Olympic Committee has told its athletes to prepare for a 2021 Olympic Games, Canadian Olympic Committee announced that it will not send its athletes to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, the World Athletics body – IAAF – too, has urged the IOC to postpone the games as the situation created by the spread of the coronavirus the world over has made it nearly impossible to hold the games as scheduled.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) Chief Executive Officer, Matt Carroll, briefed media to confirm that an Australian Olympic team cannot be assembled in the changing circumstances.
"With travel restrictions in place by the government, combined with the decision of the IOC, we have decided to plan towards Games in Tokyo in 2021," Carroll said.
A statement released earlier today said athletes now need to prioritise their own health and of those around them, and to be able to return to the families, in discussion with their National Federations.
Mr. Carroll says athletes need certainty.
“We have athletes based overseas, training at central locations around Australia as teams and managing their own programs. With travel and other restrictions, this becomes an untenable situation.
“The IOC had adopted the key principles of putting athlete health first and ensuring it acted in their best interests and the interests of sport. This decision reflects those principles. We are now in a position where we can plan with greater certainty.
“It’s clear the Games can’t be held in July. Our athletes have been magnificent in their positive attitude to training and preparing, but the stress and uncertainty has been extremely challenging for them. They have also shouldered the burden of concern for their peers around the world. That has been a consistent message to me.”
Pressure has been growing on the IOC to postpone the event because of the virus, which has killed more than 14,000 people and infected over 335,000 worldwide.
Several competitors and National Olympic Committees have called for a postponement because of the impact the outbreak has had on athletes' training programmes and qualifications for Tokyo 2020.
A growing number of countries have imposed nationwide lockdowns, travel restrictions and bans on events involving a certain amount of people as a result of the pandemic.
Canada’s No to Games in July 2020
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), backed by their Athletes’ Commissions, National Sports Organizations and the Government of Canada, have also made the difficult decision to not send Canadian teams to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2020.
The COC and CPC urgently call on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to postpone the Games for one year and we offer them our full support in helping navigate all the complexities that rescheduling the Games will bring. While we recognize the inherent complexities around a postponement, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community.
This is not solely about athlete health – it is about public health. With COVID-19 and the associated risks, it is not safe for our athletes, and the health and safety of their families and the broader Canadian community for athletes to continue training towards these Games. In fact, it runs counter to the public health advice which we urge all Canadians to follow.
The COC and CPC reviewed the letter and news release sent Sunday by the IOC. We are thankful to the IOC for its assurance that it will not be cancelling the Tokyo 2020 Games and appreciative that it understands the importance of accelerating its decision-making regarding a possible postponement.
We also applaud the IOC for acknowledging that safeguarding the health and wellness of nations and containing the virus must be our paramount concern. We are in the midst of a global health crisis that is far more significant than sport.
The COC and CPC would like to thank our athletes, partners and the Canadian sport community for their patience and for lending us their voices during these unprecedented times. We remain hopeful that the IOC and IPC will agree with the decision to postpone the Games as a part of our collective responsibility to protect our communities and work to contain the spread of the virus.
World Athletics Body also wants a postponement
In a letter to IOC counterpart Thomas Bach, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said Tokyo 2020 taking place as planned in July and August is "neither feasible nor desirable" amid growing international concern over the pandemic.
"I write to you to request that the Games be moved," Coe wrote in the letter.
Coe cited competition fairness, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on training and the increased risk of athletes suffering injuries as the three main reasons why the organisation believes the Olympics should be postponed.
World Athletics, the first International Federation to urge the IOC to move the event, "remains available and at the ready to help secure a new date for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games," Coe added.
The double Olympic 1,500 metres champion said postponing Tokyo 2020 would put an end to the "real anguish" and "uncertainty" being felt by athletes due to the pandemic and its impact on their training and qualification for the Games.
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"No-one wants to see the Olympic Games postponed but as I have said publicly, we cannot hold the event at all costs, certainly not at the cost of athlete safety, and a decision on the Olympic Games must become very obvious very quickly," Coe said.
The significant intervention from a top-tier Olympic sport came prior to an emergency meeting of the IOC Executive Board, where the organisation publicly admitted for the first time it was considering postponing Tokyo 2020.
The IOC also said it would make a decision on the Games, set to open on July 24, within the next four weeks and repeated its insistence that a cancellation was not being considered. Among the options are scaling down the event, holding the Games later this year or postponing until 2021.
-PTC News
