Lankan contingent in Tokyo - Realities and the challenges of 2020 Olympics

The precious Lankan cargo that really matter including the game officials who are cogs in the wheel have already entered the Olympic bubble in Tokyo. From what we learn is that some of the athletes are engaged in light training already, while young swimmer Aniqua Gaffoor was one of the last to arrive in Tokyo, leaving Thailand.

The 2020 Olympic Games will begin on Friday, July 23 with the Olympic opening ceremony will begin at 7 a.m. on Friday while it will occur at 8 p.m. local time in Tokyo.

Though the games will start on Friday some of the women’s soccer and softball games will be played on July 21-22. Archery and rowing preliminaries begin earlier on July 23.Nonetheless the opening ceremony proper will be held on the 23rd. The first Softball game will be between Japan and Australia on Wednesday. The other countries taking in this tournament are – The United States of America, Mexico, Italy and Canada. All Softball games will be held at the Fukushima Stadium, Tokyo.

Taking part in the women’s soccer event are – 12 countries including giants in the calibre USA, Japan, Brazil, Sweden and Australia.

Sri Lanka’s track record at the Olympic Games has not been impressive with the last medal coming way courtesy, sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe who won the Silver in the 200m event at the Sydney Olympics Games in the year 2000. 

However, hoisting the Lankan flag first in the Japanese soil are Equestrian show jumper Mathilda Karlsson and shooter Tehani Egodawela who will be engaged in their preliminary rounds of the competition earlier on June 23. 

Commenting on the forthcoming challenges the National Olympic Committee Secretary General Maxwell de Silva said “Paramount of an event of this magnitude is the exposure.  At the same time, it is also important for the athletes to experience the scale of competitiveness at this competition.  For the Sri Lankans this is a good learning curve because we are well on our way map out a track so that they would be future medal hopefuls. That is why we have lunched programmes the Crysbro Project which especially targets the athlete of tomorrow.

“Yes, we all aware that the Covid pandemic slowed down the entire sports on the globe and especially the Olympic Games which in fact had to be postponed by a year. Yet, we cannot be let take circumstances overcome your progress in whatever activity”

The president NOC SL Suresh Subramaniam was quoted “The past year after all has been among the most testing for athletes and officials alike. The pandemic has been life altering to say the least, but more so for athletes, for whom it has threatened to derail a lifetime of hard work.

 “The huge problem for the athletes was to focus for an extra year – that is a tough, tough thing, you know, you have your targets and then suddenly it gets shifted. The postponement of the games was definitely not easy.”

Having said that the eminent dangers of the games hitting the village still persists. News Agency Associated Press reported,   Kara Eaker, an alternate on the United States women’s gymnastics team, has tested positive for COVID-19 in an Olympic training camp in Japan. 

Al Fong, the personal coach for both Eaker and fellow Olympic alternate Leanne Wong, confirmed the positive test in an email to The Associated Press on Monday. The coach said Eaker, 18, was vaccinated against the novel coronavirus two months ago. 

Eaker and Wong have been placed in isolation. 

USA Gymnastics did not identify Eaker or Wong but said in a statement the athlete who tested positive and another alternate would be subject to additional quarantine restrictions. 

 “The Olympic athletes moved to separate lodging accommodations and a separate training facility, as originally planned, and will continue their preparation for the Games,” the organization said in a statement. “The entire delegation continues to be vigilant and will maintain strict protocols while they are in Tokyo.” 

The positive test was the latest in a growing line of daily reports of athletes and others testing positive at the pandemic-delayed Olympics. Eaker is the first American to test positive. 

 “In alignment with local rules and protocols, the athlete has been transferred to a hotel to quarantine,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement, citing privacy in not identifying the individual.

All in all, the work is cut out for the Lankan contingent who went through the rigorous regime to stay out of the vagaries of the pandemic.  However, competition wise the athletes who have to be in the vigil are Judoka Chama Dharmawardena and Badminton player Niluka Karunaratne – two of the seasoned campaigners and two competitors who have made some sort of impact in the games.