Australian Olympic Committee continues planning for Tokyo 2020 Games

Despite the global threat of Coronavirus, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has today announced that it remains "focused on the planning and preparation of the Australian team to the Tokyo Games, for July 24 opening”.

AOC Chief Executive Matt Carroll and Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman spoke today at a media conference after speaking with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach in a teleconference call overnight.

Backing the IOC's ongoing announcements that the Tokyo Olympics will be held as scheduled, Carroll advised that the athletes "want to be there"

With numerous sporting events around the world being cancelled, postponed and rescheduled, Carroll said that the IOC is basing its planning on meetings of a taskforce, which is meeting daily with the World Health Organization, commenting “the AOC does not live in a bubble.

"There is a global health crisis. We recognise that people are suffering, people are sick, people are losing their jobs, businesses are struggling, amid enormous community uncertainty. Things are changing every day.

"The IOC, like all of us, are basing their planning on what they know and are receiving the best advice."

Carroll said that the IOC did not entertain the idea of a postponement, and that any suggestion was for the IOC to implement, not the AOC, commenting "the decision of cancellation or postponement is their decision. What their plan A or B is, is their business.

 "What we want to make sure for the AOC's persons is that their decision making process, to get to either plan A, B or C was good. That's what we were working towards.

"It is four months (until the Games are due to start). If you think back to where this virus was a month ago, things have changed.

"They don't need to make the decision today. They're taking a measured process, getting the best advice you can possibly get, the World Health Organization would not be advising him otherwise.

“(If) things change, then the IOC's decision also change. They don't have to make that decision today."

Adding that the IOC was 'insulated' from the financial impact of the Games not taking place, Carroll went on to say “their decision making is not around the finances."

He also advised that the IOC did not mention the possibility of a postponement during the teleconference.

Tokyo is set to host about 11,000 athletes and 57% have earned their spots at the Games.

The remaining 43% of athletes will clinch their places through modified qualifiers, or previous performances based on ranking.

Chef de Mission Chesterman says urgent adaptations to the qualification processes for each sport should be clearer by early April when International Federations for each sport submit their revised systems to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

He advised “last night we spoke with IOC President Thomas Bach who reminded us of the IOC’s determination to give the athletes their moment, with an Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“There are a number of challenges all athletes are facing between now and then, but two stand out.

“First is gaining qualification for the Games with so much disruption to world sport and travel, and second is ensuring they are able to attend the Games free of coronavirus.

“The situation regarding qualification is complex to say the least, with global travel restrictions among many measures that prevent qualifying events anywhere in the world from going ahead right now.”

“International Federations will seek to create a clear path to the Games for each sport. The AOC will certainly assist all our National Federations here in Australia as they respond to the specific decisions in their individual sports.

“Our focus is moving to the planning of our pre-Games preparation to ensure we get our athletes to the Games healthy, prepared and virus free. Clearly that is a major challenge for all National Olympic Committees.

“We are starting conversations with our sports about what that looks like. But 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.”

Recent measures taken by the AOC include:

• Postponing of Team Appeal dinners
• Cancelling March sport planning trip to Tokyo
• AOC Annual General Meeting to be conducted in an on-line environment
• AOC staff working from home
• Risk mitigation protocols for team selection announcements and events
• Suspension of the Olympics Live planning around live sites and other events

Images: Australian Olympic Committee Chief Executive Matt Carroll and Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman at today's media conference (top, courtesy of the AOC) and the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, the most recently completed Olympics venue (below, courtesy of Tokyo 2020).