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Joe Apu
Two strong voices have added to the call to the International Olympic Committee, IOC for the postponement of the Olympic Games with the governing body of American athletics, USA Track and Field and the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), calling for a postponement of the Tokyo Olympics due to fears over the coronavirus pandemic.
The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), meanwhile, called for this year’s Games to be suspended until 2021.
In a letter to United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) chief executive Sarah Hirshland, the federation asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Games which are scheduled to run from July 24-August 9.
“We certainly understand the ramifications of this request, and the realities of trying to coordinate the logistics of a postponed Olympic Games around the schedules of other athletes, sport federations, key stakeholders etc, but the alternative of moving forward in light of the current global situation would not be in the best interest of our athletes [as difficult as that decision might be],” USATF chief executive Max Siegel said in the letter.
Brazil urged the IOC to follow in the footsteps of Uefa and Conmebol, the governing bodies of football in Europe and South America, in delaying the Olympics for 12 months.
“As an ex-judoka and coach in the sport, I learned that every athlete’s dream is to go to the Olympics in top form,” said COB president Paulo Wanderley.
