Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic Committees said on Sunday night that the country will not send teams to the Tokyo Games unless they are postponed by a year.
“While we recognize the inherent complexities around a postponement, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community,” the groups said in a joint statement. “This is not solely about athlete health — it is about public health.”
The committees said that going ahead with the Olympics as planned in July contradicts advice from public health officials and that training for that schedule threatens the health of athletes.
The decision in Canada was reached after the International Olympic Committee said earlier in the day that it will come to a decision about the timing of the games within four weeks.
The Australian Olympic Committee said on Sunday that its athletes should “prepare for a Tokyo Olympic Games in the northern summer of 2021.” It added that its board has concluded that “an Australian Team could not be assembled in the changing circumstances at home and abroad.”
Several Canadian athletes have been at the forefront of calls for the I.O.C. to postpone or cancel the 2020 games. Hayley Wickenheiser, a six-time Olympian and a member of the I.O.C. Athletes’ Commission, wrote on Twitter last week that “the IOC insisting this will move ahead with such conviction is insensitive and irresponsible given the state of humanity.”
Reference: New York Times
