China’s athletes determined to win gold at Tokyo Olympics despite Covid-19 challenges
- Many of the Chinese delegation has arrived for the Games and are in their final days of training before Friday’s opening ceremony
- Coaches for several of the sporting teams have highlighted the difficulties in maintaining morale during a pandemic
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China’s Tokyo Olympics delegation will be nation’s biggest yet for an international sporting event
The International Olympic Committee has yet to make Covid-19 inoculation compulsory and, as of Wednesday about 84 per cent of athletes and their accompanying delegations had been vaccinated. More than 70 per cent of the media covering the event have been jabbed.
Gou Zhongwen, head of the Chinese delegation, said last week that China’s representatives would be aiming for “zero infection” of Covid-19 during the Games, while striving to remain among the top medal rankings.
There will be strict health measures in place, with Olympians required to wear masks and be tested daily for the new coronavirus. Those flying to Japan will need to provide two negative nucleic acid tests before boarding, and will be tested at the airport. Two members of Uganda’s Olympics delegation, one Serbian athlete and one Israeli have already tested positive so far.
Liu Guoliang, president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, earlier told state media there were “too many challenges and too many problems that we may not even have thought of” for athletes to deal with new health protocols during the pandemic – including not being allowed to touch the table or blow air at the ball during the competition.