The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach refuted speculation that the games of the XXXII Olympiad will have to be postponed for a second time.

The IOC Executive Board met this week to discuss the organisation’s intention to move forward with the Tokyo Olympics as scheduled this summer, July 23 to August 8 and the Paralympic Games, August 24 to September 5 2021.

“We are fully concentrated on and committed to the successful and safe delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, starting on 23 July with the Olympic Games and 24 August with the Paralympic Games. In the last couple of days, we had consultation calls with the International Federations and the National Olympic Committees, also getting reports from the athlete representatives. We could experience there today, again, that all of them are fully united and committed; all 206 National Olympic Committees, all the International Federations and the athletes are standing behind these Olympic Games. We see the same commitment on the Japanese side with the Japanese government, the Organising Committee and the Japanese Olympic Committee.” Bach said to the media following the board meeting, “The organisation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as such, is already an extremely complex challenge. But this complexity is multiplied when it comes to organising postponed Olympic Games for the first time ever, and this under the conditions of a pandemic. So, there is no blueprint for this, and we are learning every day. This fight against the virus, as you all know from your personal circumstances, is a tough one. But we are fighting this fight for, and like, Olympic athletes. This means with full determination, with a will to win, with hard work every day, and with all the physical and mental strength we have.”

Stakeholders listed three main reasons behind the postponement from its original 2020 date in order to “protect the health of the athletes and everyone involved, and to support the containment of the COVID-19 virus; To safeguard the interests of the athletes and of Olympic sport; The global international sports calendar.”

The new dates are exactly one year after those originally planned for 2020 The IOC said the postponement and new date was also aimed at limiting any disruption to the remainder of the international sports calendar.

“Nobody at this moment can predict the health situation in 206 National Olympic Committees for the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, from late July until September of this year – not even the most prominent scientists in this area. This leads, you may say naturally, you can also say unfortunately, to much speculation. But all this speculation is hurting the athletes in their preparations, who have already overcome the challenges in their daily training and competition with all the restrictions they are facing, either in their country or when it comes to travelling,” Bach said, “So there is speculation about cancellation; I heard about a plan B, about everything. Some even make the proposal to postpone the Olympic Games in Tokyo to the year 2032. I want to say good luck, if you would have to discuss this with an athlete who is preparing for the Olympic Games in 2021. There are some proposals to move it to another city. Everybody who knows about the complexity of Olympic Games knows this is not possible. They’re in such a short period of time. For all these reasons, we are not losing our time and energy on speculation. We are fully concentrating on the Opening Ceremony on 23 July this year. We are not speculating on whether the Games are taking place. We are working on how the Games will take place.”

This marks the first time the Olympics have been postponed because of a global pandemic. Previous editions in 1916, 1940 and 1944 were canceled due to World Wars I and II.

“We have to put the COVID countermeasures together for every possible scenario. And in this, we are relying on the advice of all the different authorities. There’s the Japanese government, the health authorities, the World Health Organization; we are talking with the manufacturers of vaccines – with all the experts. From these consultations, we can conclude that it is too early to tell which of the many COVID countermeasures will finally be the appropriate ones when it comes to the time of the Games. We just have to ask for patience and understanding – from the athletes, from the National Olympic Committees, the International Federations, the Japanese people, the Organising Committee, everybody. We have to be patient and diligent in the same way.”

Bach also noted that what he called “playbooks” on the way forward will be presented to the various NOCs in February. These guidelines will outline the fundamental measures each stakeholder group will have to follow before, during and after Tokyo 2020 to ensure the safety and success of this year’s Games.

All Bahamian Olympic Qualifiers thus far have come from athletics: including Gardiner, Wilson, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Tynia Gaither, Pedrya Seymour, and Samson Colebrooke.

“In this we are gaining even more confidence from the effectiveness of the countermeasures which are being applied right now at sports events across the world. We have seen this during the winter season: more than 7,000 events have been organised by the International Federations, with 175,000 COVID tests, and only 0.18 per cent were positive. The competitions could be run, could be organised, and none of the competitions developed into a hotspot or anything like this. We also see many summer sports already back with competitions, with the same results, with the same care for the safety of everybody involved. And this is why we are so, so confident.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has earmarked a fund of $800 million dollars to bear the costs of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics and support “the wider Olympic movement.”

According to a press release issued by the organisation, the fund will include “an aid package $150 million for the Olympic Movement, including the International Federations (IFs), the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and the IOC-Recognised Organisations, to enable them to continue their sports, their activities and their support to their athletes.

The bulk of the fund, $650 million, is set to cover the cost for the organisation of the postponed games.

International Federations, National Olympic Committees and IOC-Recognised Organisations are able to benefit from the aid package.