Organizing the logistics of a huge and complex event like the Olympics is no small feat, especially during a global pandemic like the one we are going through. Before even worrying about being able to compete in the Tokyo 2020 races in complete safety, however, athletes from all over the world must also deal with often daring trips to get to Japan. Bloomberg has collected the testimonies of several national Olympic committees that due to the pandemic have been forced to review their plans or adopt imaginative solutions to be able to bring female athletes, athletes, and their equipment to Tokyo.
In the coming weeks, about 11,000 female and male Olympic athletes and more than 4,000 Paralympic athletes will arrive in
Japan from more than 200 countries; to them are added coaches, technicians,
doctors, and escorts of the various national teams and athletes who have
already arrived. This year, in particular, the movements of various national
teams were further complicated by the restrictions introduced for the
coronavirus pandemic, which led to the cancellation of several flights and the
closure of borders, as well as the need to undergo tests to ascertain the
negativity of the virus.
To give an idea, Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meters
in Beijing 2008 and London 2012 and one of this year's favorites, is struggling
with a tangle of stopovers, connections, and paperwork, all just to get to
Tokyo, before even thinking about the race. Fraser-Pryce will depart from
Kingston, Jamaica, to go to Miami, and will arrive in Tokyo after another
stopover in London, with a trip that even in economy class can cost several
thousand euros.
The Brazilian athletes,
who are almost 300 and compete in many disciplines - from swimming to fencing
to skateboarding - have had problems with Air Canada, which had canceled the
flights with which they were supposed to reach Tokyo after a stopover in
Toronto. Brazilian Olympic Committee president Paulo Wanderley Teixeira told
Bloomberg that getting all the teams and their equipment to Tokyo was a
"war operation" and that making ends meet with the change, of course,
required a little creativity. Brazilian athletes will now travel to Japan via
Frankfurt, Germany, which will at least allow those training in Europe to more
easily join other delegations, said Wanderley Teixeira.
Since Fiji Airways
is not operating commercial flights, however, the men's and women's rugby teams
of the Oceania archipelago will not travel on board a normal airliner, but on a
cargo that usually transports mail, goods, and cargo to Japan. Lorraine Mar,
head of the Sports Association and the National Olympic Committee, explained
that Fiji had tried to coordinate with other South Pacific nations to organize
trips with them, but that didn't seem feasible.
