Bach: 'Safety First' for Tokyo 2020 Athletes

(ATR) The Tokyo 2020 Games will have no equal in Olympics history when it comes to prioritizing athlete safety. But for some competitors, the restrictions in place to keep them safe may also prevent them from qualifying for the Olympics.

IOC President Thomas Bach, addressing the media following a virtual IOC Executive Board meeting on Wednesday,insists that "safety first" for all athletes remains the number one priority in delivering the Games. It's a principle that has led to the cancellations and postponements of critical Olympic qualifying events. The result is that some competitors are left without a chance to make their Olympic dream a reality.

"This is a very difficult situation for many athletes and you can only explain this by telling the athletes that it is "safety first".

"It’s the principle we are applying for the Olympic Games, as well as the qualifying of Olympic tournaments.

"We have to put safety first and we cannot take any risk," said the IOC president.

For those who do get to compete in Tokyo, Bach says there is now a precedent concerning measures to be implemented at the Olympic Village and throughout the venues, ensuring the well-being of athletes.

"This will be about the creation of different bubbles, this will ensure the direct transportation to and from the venues, and this will also include the interactions between the different groups," Bach said, referring to specific countermeasures outlined in IOC distributed ‘Playbooks’’.

"We have seen that this works – there have been about 340 world championships and World Cups being organized, with the cumulative participation of far more than 40,000 athletes and none of the events have been virus spreaders.

"And they did not have the benefit of the vaccine – we can be very confident that it will be a high number of people being vaccinated.

"Taking all of this together – the very strict measures, the reduction of the days athletes stay in the village, which will allow to lower the capacity of the village, allowing much better social distancing.

"All of this, on top of a high vaccination rate, I think will really make the Olympic Village a safe place for everybody."

Bach addressed a question about how the possibility of another "state of emergency" imposed by the Tokyo Municipal and Japanese governments could affect or alter the Games.

"We understand very clearly that this state of emergency, which may be decided by the government, is restricted to your ‘Golden Week’, your holiday week, to prevent the spread of the virus.

"It is a preventative measure of this limited time as we were informed. This absolutely aligns with the overall policy of the government, but is not related to the Olympic Games."

Pressed as to why he remains so confident that safety measures being implemented will guarantee health and safety, Bach noted that it is all based upon science.

"Our confidence is coming from scientific advice – the consultation with experts and everything we are doing together with the International Paralympic Committee and the organizing committee.

"And we are learning from the many sporting events that have successfully been organized without the benefit of the vaccination.

"It’s a purely scientific and fact-based approach that we are taking," he said.

In regards to vaccinations, Bach said he hopes that countries possessing the capability and means will offer assistance to poorer countries.

"Whatever the IOC can do in this respect we are doing, but in a realistic way I don’t think we can arrive at a situation where we can say 100-percent will be vaccinated or will have access to vaccinations.

"We have to also realize that among athletes, there are also some who do not want to be vaccinated.

"Based upon facts and scientific advice, we can be very confident. With the experience of the many sports events, we really think we are undertaking all the right efforts, as much as you can, to minimize the risk in such a situation.

"The Olympic Village will be a very different Olympic Village, but it will be a pretty safe place."

Written and reported by Brian Pinelli

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