Australia and Canada revealed that they wouldn’t send their athletes to the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer. That will be the case, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), if the Olympic Games aren’t postponed for 2021.
These two institutions have made a joint statement, in which they say that they won’t risk the health of not only their members but the entire Canadian health system around the world.
“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,” the statement said.
So far, there weren’t any pieces of information about the future of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and it seems that the International Olympic Committee is still waging options before making the final decision.
According to some sources, the long silence from IOC might be a signal that the executives of this institution are hoping that the crisis ignited by the COVID-19 pandemic might be resolved before the start of the Games. The opening of the biggest sporting event in the world is set for July 24, which is four months from now.
IOC has been under heavy criticism in the past few weeks because of their indecisiveness when it comes to postponing the event. Thomas Bach, the president of the Committee, said that canceling the Games in Tokyo is not an option and that all the decisions about postponing the same will be revealed in four weeks’ time.
The Japanese authorities were determined in the beginning that the Games have to be according to the plan, with some adjustments and modifications. However, they, too, backed out under the massive pressure of the media and the public and eventually admitted that there is a possibility of delaying them.
Apart from the problems considering health, there are also issues with the athletes themselves. Many had to change their preparations, and some of them even stop their training because of COVID-19 consequences. Certain sports have dynamic during that process, which is now irreversibly damaged, and they need to start over the entire cycle of preparations once again, and that demands time.
