Athletes want the Olympic Games to be postponed
Posted on: 24/Mar/2020 1:58:25 PM
Athletes around the world have been trying to be part of a discussion that concerns them but has been taken over by the International Olympic Committee, organizers of the Tokyo Games, sponsors, media partners and leaders of international sports federations. All these people are trying to decide whether to postpone the Summer Olympics because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Athletes have approached the press, or gone on their social media networks to make their voices heard. Recently, an online poll was released by The Athletics Association which gauges the views of their members on the issue. According to the poll, more than 4,000 track and field athletes from six continents participated in the poll and 78% of them said the Summer Games should be postponed; 87% said the coronavirus outbreak had adversely affected their training, and the average concern for their health and safety was 68 on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 representing the greatest concern, if the games opened as planned on July 24. The poll was sent in 13 languages. The 531 respondents who answered in Japanese favored postponement, 65% to 35%.
According to a founder of the group, What’s clear from our research is that the athletes overwhelmingly want the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to be postponed. The Olympic Games are the pinnacle, but we are fighting a global pandemic and the athletes’ health and also the health of every other city on the planet must surely be prioritized.
The President of the International Olympic Committee has said that the organization would continue to study the effects of the virus and decide in four weeks whether the games would move forward or be postponed. He said This step will allow better visibility of the rapidly changing development of the health situation around the world and in Japan. It will serve as the basis for the best decision in the interest of the athletes and everyone else involved.
In response, a founder of the Athletics Association said, The entire world is in a state of uncertainty. We’re in a revolving door we continue to be locked in. This is just being drawn out for too long. Me and other athletes have grown increasingly frustrated at the limited information they have received as the crisis has spread across the globe. Me and my training group in Jacksonville, Florida, have been watching the news and reading blogs for information, rather than relying on updates from people in charge of the competition.
The President of World Athletics, track and field’s governing body, has also called on the IOC to postpone the games. He said, Whilst we all know that different parts of the world are at different stages of the virus, the unanimous view across all our Areas is that an Olympic Games in July this year is neither feasible nor desirable.
In addition to this, many athletes have said that they were upset that holding the Olympic Games when so many of them had not been able to train properly would be unfair. An Olympmpic bronze medalist in the steeplechase said no one could predict what the world would look like this summer, but athletes know, right now, that the virus has wreaked havoc with training schedules. She said, I’m lucky, I can do most of my training on roads with just a pair of shoes, but athletes in field events or distance runners who are on lockdown, they can’t train, and this is happening in waves. The vast majority of athletes don’t feel comfortable with training for games right now.
An Italian triple jumper based in Milan said he had to abandon most of his strength training. His gym and track have been shut down. His training is limited to the use of another track for a 2 1/2-hour session each day. It’s not optimal, but I am lucky to have this opportunity. If you can find a way to keep the competitive integrity and fairness, we can think about doing the games, but otherwise, I can see no way out, he said.
The chairman emeritus of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said there was little doubt that the only solution was to postpone the games. He said I would be upset for someone to expect me to continue training at this point. I can’t imagine the stress and anxiety these athletes are going through these days.
