Hula’s Talks: “The world and the sports world in particular will have to live with COVID-19” – CANOC President Brian Lewis

Brian Lewis, the President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) and the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC), says the world of Olympic sports has a long way to go before COVID-19 is no longer a concern.

Speaking to Around the Rings founder Ed Hula shortly after two TTOC athletes, long jumper Andwuelle Wright and hurdler Sparkle McKnight, were withheld from their events due to positive COVID tests, Lewis acknowledged the situation as reflective of a new normal brought upon by the pandemic.

“It’s the reality which we have accepted even before we left Trinidad and Tobago”, Lewis said. “We just function and operate in the TTOC in the context of reality.”

“In terms of the team members that we have in the isolation facility, we are in contact with them daily to make sure that their welfare and needs are being addressed and where there may be any additional requirements we are providing that support.”

Asked by Hula about the regimented, prison-like conditions quarantined athletes are forced to stay in, which prompted complaints among others from Germany’s Olympic Committee, Lewis stated: “I don’t want to appear to be trivializing anything, but I think that those who have served prison time would say that there is no comparison.”

Despite two of his athletes testing positive, Lewis expressed confidence in Tokyo 2020 organizers’ ability to provide a safe Olympic experience, praising the Japanese government and the IOC for doing their “absolute best” in pressing ahead with the Games alongside the advice of experts.

“If we didn’t have confidence in what had been put in place with countermeasures, et cetera, we would not have accepted the invitation to attend the Games”, Lewis declared. “Because at the end of the day, the safety and health of every member of our delegation is of paramount importance. We also are very aware that post-Games we have to return to our country, our communities or families or friends, and therefore we have that additional responsibility in the context of safety and security.”

Drawing from his experience both in Tokyo and overseeing sporting events in the Caribbean, Lewis further made clear his position that COVID-19 will be a factor in many sporting events to come, and that the knowledge gained from Tokyo 2020 will be vital in ensuring that they run smoothly.

“I don’t personally think that we are anywhere near the end of COVID-19. The world and the sports world in particular will have to live with COVID-19. So in that regard the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in a very significant way provides a template going forward.”

“With [Paris 2024], when you look at a window of three years, that’s not a long time... So a lot of the lessons learned, a lot of the feedback will have to be taken onboard and applied going forward in terms of Olympic-type, multi-sport type events”, said Lewis, recognizing the “significant contribution” Tokyo 2020 organizers made by providing future event hosts with information they can learn from.

Looking forward, Lewis sees the Tokyo 2020 Games as an “inflection point” for the IOC and sporting world, in that the Olympic movement has had to contend with new sociopolitical pressures surrounding mental health advocacy, the right to protest, race and gender. According to Lewis, the Olympic movement will inevitably have to evolve to accommodate such pressures, which have already prompted spirited debate during this year’s Games.

“A lot of the issues that present themselves are related to the reality of the current environment in which the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement operate. Whether it be the issue of mental health and how their younger athletes are dealing like Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka or Jay Jones, big issues surrounding Rule 50, Black Lives Matter, the issue of gender – all of these are issues that are related to the modern world. Therefore the IOC, Olympic Games and Olympic movement must embrace it”, Lewis advised.

“There are issues, of course, that will be uncomfortable and the IOC, because of its traditional warring, may want to take an incremental approach. But at the end of the day, it’s not going to go away”.

“In a very significant way, as far as I’m concerned, the Tokyo 2020 rescheduled Games bare all. This is the reality of the time to live in. There are contemporary issues and the International Olympic Committee and Olympic movement can’t escape it.”

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