When the Canadian team including more than 200 athletes will be on board its charter flights to Beijing, a first major Olympic hurdle will have been crossed, noted David Shoemaker.
The Beijing Games will start on February 4, but the first competition is already underway. The challenge ? Bringing the country’s top athletes to China without testing positive for COVID-19 – an invisible threat few anticipated just weeks ago.
Shoemaker, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, told CBC last week that he had concerns about hosting the Beijing Games, a sentiment shared by several athletes.
The Swiss Olympic Committee has called for meetings to discuss the possibility of postponing the Beijing Olympics due to the pandemic, but the International Olympic Committee has informed leaders of national federations, including Shoemaker, that the Winter Games will take place as planned.
“One of the messages was that he had confidence in the presentation of these Games,” said Shoemaker.
Another message was to encourage all participants – athletes, coaches, leaders and members of the media – to live by the rules today.
“Don’t wait until you are in China to follow the rules guide. Really do everything you can to take COVID-19 and the Omicron variant as seriously as possible right now. ”
The rules guide was created in anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics last summer, and includes guidelines for wearing a face covering and physical distancing to limit the risk of the virus spreading.
“As you know, one of the biggest challenges is how to go about getting our athletes to Beijing without a positive test, so they can get on the plane and compete – live their dream” , noted Shoemaker.
If an athlete tests positive within the next month, they must provide three negative results in PCR tests and submit those documents to the organizing committee. The latter then decides whether or not the athlete can travel to China.
All participants will also be required to produce two negative PCR results within 96 hours and 72 hours before their flight to Beijing.
“We are very close to the window where if you are tested positive within 14 days of your trip, the rule says you cannot go to China,” Shoemaker recalled in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“The stakes are therefore very high,” he added. We have never had to face anything like this before. In tokyo [l’été dernier]yes COVID-19 existed, but there was not such a contagious variant that was active. It has therefore become our main issue. ”
Some Canadian teams have been severely affected by COVID-19. The virus affected the Canadian women’s hockey team last month. Its last preseason games have been called off and the team have created their own protective bubble ahead of their departure to China.
The bobsleigh team saw 11 athletes and three coaches undergo COVID-19 protocols. In figure skating, Vanessa James and Eric Radford were hit before Christmas and just got the green light to compete at the Canadian Championships this week.
“That’s why we focus on that period of time,” said Shoemaker. It is very important that athletes continue to produce negative results over the next three weeks, before boarding the plane. ”
Shoemaker added that the COC had limited the number of passengers on its charter flights to promote distancing. All members of the Canadian delegation are fully immunized and have been encouraged to receive an additional dose.
But why is it so important to send Canadian athletes to China in the midst of another wave during a long pandemic?
“These Games are important. We saw it in Tokyo. I think our country needed this, to feel inspired, to be united, and to heal a bit from this pandemic, Shoemaker said. It may be even more true this time around when the situation is worse, with lockdowns and curfews.
“I think it can inspire [les Canadiens]. I believe it can make people better. This is why we are working so hard to send 220 Olympians to China.
“The more moments there will be like those of Joannie Rochette and Alexandre Bilodeau (at the 2010 Vancouver Games) or the equivalent with the Canadian women’s soccer team (which won gold at the Tokyo Games), the more that will help us feel better. ”