Tokyo Olympics: Postponement 'not an option' as AOC prepares for July Olympic Games

Lachlan McKirdy

Tokyo Olympics: Postponement 'not an option' as AOC prepares for July Olympic Games image

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has confirmed that postponement is not at option for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, saying it's July or bust for this year's tournament. 

Matt Carroll, the AOC CEO and Ian Chesterman, the AOC Chef de Mission for the Tokyo Olympics confirmed that the Games are still going ahead as planned on Thursday morning. 

Carroll and Chesterman were both on a phone hook-up with IOC president Thomas Bach who stated that all athletes should be preparing as if the Games are going ahead. 

As the world struggles with the outbreak of the coronavirus, many have called on the IOC to be proactive and call off the Games now for the health and safety of the athletes and everyone travelling to Tokyo in July. 

MORE: Coronavirus: UCI suspends all road cycling until at least end of April

However, Carroll stated that while the AOC and IOC are 'not in a bubble', with the Games still four months away they are happy to take their time with that decision. 

"We recognise there is a global health crisis," Carroll said.

"We recognise that people are suffering, people are sick, people are losing jobs, businesses are struggling amid enormous community uncertainty.

"Things are changing every day and we all must adapt.

“Equally, the International Olympic Committee, advised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has assured us that the Olympic Games in Tokyo are proceeding in four months.

"We owe it to our Australian athletes to do everything we can to ensure they will participate with the best opportunity in those Games."

Carroll and Chesterman outlined precautions that had already been put in place to help protect the safety of the athletes. 

This includes the possibility of setting up 'coronavirus-free' base camps for athletes to quarantine themselves in when they arrive in Japan. 

"The key will be delivering the athletes to the Olympics coronavirus-free," Chesterman said.

"Initiatives on the table include extended pre-Games camps in Australia or in Japan. 

"The option of taking the team direct from the pre-camps into Tokyo via charter supports that period of pre-Games isolation.

"We will look at potentially minimising the time they spend in the Olympic Village."

The AOC was forced to defend their position, with reporters bringing up a number of issues that have already potentially damaged the reputation of the Tokyo Olympics. 

Many have pondered how the Olympics can be fair when many athletes around the world have been forced to self-isolate and are no longer in a position to train. 

Additionally, drug testing has ceased in many sports and this could potentially impact the equal playing field in Tokyo. 

"WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) has issued a statement today," Carroll said. 

"They are working through that with the test authorities throughout the world and they are working with the IOC.

"Obviously it's been compromised, we have to adapt to the changed environment we're in. 

"The Independent Testing Authority will be in charge in Tokyo, so WADA appreciate the challenge but they're working hard to make sure the best testing regimes remain in place."

One of the final sticking points of the press conference was whether postponement was an option for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Chesterman and Caroll not only ruled out any chance of postponing the Games, but confirmed reports from earlier this week that the Games would not go ahead behind closed doors. 

"That's always the situation with an Olympics Games," Chesterman said.

"There are two possibilities, the Games proceed or the Games are cancelled. 

"[Postponement] has not been talked about in any of the Olympic circles, and the host city contract considers hosting the Games and cancelling the Games."

Carroll also confirmed that postponing the games to later in 2020 is not an option because of the cooler weather conditions in Japan later in the year. 

"Postponing an event the size of an Olympic Games is something I would imagine the IOC would find difficult to do," Carroll said. 

"Tokyo is not a city like some of our cities where you can have a warm winter. 

"So it would not be possible [to have the games later in 2020]."

In terms of whether the AOC has a deadline for when the Games need to be called off by, Carroll refused to give a specific date.

"That is something I honestly can not tell you," Carroll said.

"That's a matter for the IOC.

"The IOC do not have to make a decision on the Games at this time, there is four months.

"If the Games are going ahead, if we didn't prepare our team properly and we didn't prepare our athletes properly, and the Games go ahead and they were safe, that would be the wrong thing to do."

With the outbreak of COVID-19 only expected to get worse in the coming weeks and months, it's likely the IOC and the AOC will be giving more updates in the near future. 

 

Lachlan McKirdy

Lachlan McKirdy Photo