IOC admit ‘no solution will be ideal’ for Olympic Games in Tokyo as they press ahead with plans to host event in 2020 despite frustrated athletes accusing them of putting their health at risk during ongoing coronavirus crisis
- The IOC are working hard to stage the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this summer
- Yet many athletes and senior officials want the Games postponed for a later date
- The coronavirus outbreak has cancelled many Olympic qualifying events
- IOC member Hayley Wickenheiser believes the organisers are ‘irresponsible’
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
The International Olympic Committee admit there is no easy solution regarding the future of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and are calling on athlete solidarity to stage the summer event.
The IOC has remained committed to staging the Tokyo Games as planned from July 24 to August 9 telling international sports federations on Tuesday that measures against the virus were delivering results.
The coronavirus has killed more than 7,500 people so far and around 200,000 are currently infected with the virus, with the epicentre now in Europe.
The IOC are working hard to stage the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this summer
Yet the coronavirus outbreak is making the chances of the Games taking place very difficult
The IOC has refused to publicly consider cancellation or postponement as possible options, even as other major events announced postponements on Tuesday such as football’s Euro 2020 and Copa America tournaments alongside tennis’ French Open Grand Slam.
The virus has also wreaked havoc with Olympic qualification tournaments with athletes struggling to train, travel or compete and many pre-Games qualifiers cancelled or postponed.
‘This is an exceptional situation which requires exceptional solutions,’ said the IOC in a statement on Wednesday.
The IOC say they are assessing ‘exceptional solutions’ and are looking for athlete solidarity
‘The IOC is committed to finding a solution with the least negative impact for the athletes, while protecting the integrity of the competition and the athletes’ health.
‘No solution will be ideal in this situation, and this is why we are counting on the responsibility and solidarity of the athletes.’
IOC member Hayley Wickenheiser called the decision to proceed with the Games ‘insensitive and irresponsible’ in the most vocal attack on the Olympic body since President Thomas Bach took over in 2013.
Former Olympian and IOC member Hayley Wickenheiser insists Tokyo 2020 cannot go ahead
Wickenheiser, who competed in five Winter Games in ice hockey and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in softball, said continuing with the Games as planned ignored the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
‘This crisis is bigger than even the Olympics,’ Wickenheiser said in a statement on Twitter.
‘Athletes can’t train. Attendees can’t travel plan. Sponsors and marketers can’t market with a degree of sensitivity.
‘I think the IOC insisting this moves ahead with such conviction is insensitive and irresponsible given the state of humanity.’
Tokyo is set to host some 11,000 athletes and 53% have already earned their spot at the Games. The remaining 43% will clinch their place through modified qualifiers, or previous performances based on ranking.
Some Olympic qualifying events – such as the boxing – have been cancelled due to the virus
While some athletes have already secured their spot at the Games, the majority have not
Several athletes, including reigning Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi, said the IOC decision was putting athletes’ health at risk, urging them to train as normal when entire countries have shut down to contain the virus spread.
‘There is no postponement, no cancellation. But it (the IOC) is putting us at risk,’ Stefanidi said in an exclusive interview to Reuters.
‘We all want Tokyo to happen but what is the Plan B if it does not happen?
‘Knowing about a possible option has a major effect on my training because I may be taking risks now that I would not take if I knew there was also the possibility of a Plan B.’