by Alfonz Juck
Coronavirus, photo by Journalist Resource
VIRUS IMPACT
TOKYO (JPN): Spokesperson for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Masa Takaya has said they cannot countenance the Olympic Games being postponed for a second time, informs AP. “We are working toward the new goal. We don’t have a B Plan,” he said. “All I can tell you today is that the new Games’ dates for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been just set up. In that respect, Tokyo 2020 and all concerned parties now are doing their very best effort to deliver the Games next year.” The rescheduled Olympic Games are due to begin on 23 July 2021.
TOKYO (JPN): An online petition calling for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Village to be turned into a homeless shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic has been launched, informs insidethegames.biz. The campaign has already received 52,000 signatures.
MONACO (MON): World Athletics President Sebastian Coe envisages an abbreviated outdoor season which would run from August to October, informs The Independent. “We know that different countries are at different stages of managing this pandemic so we are trying to give a structure to our athletes and member federations so they can begin to plan for the year ahead,” Coe said in a World Athletics statement. “If it is at all possible, we will schedule a belated outdoor season from August to October to help our athletes to figure out where they stand after the disruption of this year.”
DARMSTADT (GER): DLV Director Idriss Gonschinska is looking at the possibility of arranging a late summer season for German athletes which would still include the German Championships in Braunschweig, informs Leichtathletik.de. “Like many other sports organisers, we hope to be able to hold championship contests with spectators as part of a late season. If this is not possible, we are thinking about organising a German Championships without spectators with a reduced number of employees in order to enable high-quality competitions for the athletes. But here too it is too early to name a concrete plan,” he said. The German Championships in Braunschweig were initially scheduled for 6-7 June and Gonschinska has said they are considering the weekend of 8-9 August which has been set aside on the calendar by World Athletics.
PHILADELPHIA (USA): A virtual edition of the Penn Relays will take place on 24 April, informs Race Results Weekly.
KYIV (UKR): The Ukrainian athletics federation started massive educational on-line program for regional federations, judges, coaches and athletes during COVID-19 quarantine time.
KYIV (UKR): The Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the decree to award presidential scholarships for outstanding Ukrainian athletes. Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, Andriy Protsenko, Olha Saladukha, Yuliya Levchenko, Mykhaylo Kokhan, Mykhaylo Havryliuk, Valeriya Ivanenko, Oleh Doroshchuk and their coaches are in the list.
MOSCOW (RUS): The head of the Russian anti-doping agency Yuriy Ganus said that RUSADA managed to take 2750 samples by the beginning of April. “Track-and-field became the leader in the testing program. The fact that we were forced to suspend a control does not mean that we have weakened our position to control the situation, and when we exit the suspension regime, we will fully control it,” Ganus told R-Sport.
BYDGOSZCZ (POL): Irena Szewinska Memorial in Bydgoszcz was postponed for later in the season, informs meeting director Krzyzsztof Wolsztynski. The competition was scheduled for May 30 as Continental Tour Bronze event.
SAN JUAN (PUR): The 2020 Carifta Games has been cancelled. The regional governing body NACAC, decided to cancel the event. NACAC, in a release on 13 March, said: “Following consultation with the Executive Board of NACAC and the leadership of the Bermuda National Athletics Association it has been mutually agreed to postpone the CARIFTA Games.” Guyana will host the Carifta Games in 2021.
PARIS (FRA): The International Committee for the Mediterranean Games (CIJM) has announced that the next edition of the Games will now begin on June 25 in 2022, exactly one year later than originally planned. The event in Oran is scheduled to close on July 5, now coinciding with the 60th anniversary of Algeria’s independence, which is already a national public holiday in the host nation. The new dates were agreed after joint consultation between the CIJM, the Oran 2021 Organising Committee and the Algerian Government. Informs Insidethegames.
ENSCHEDE (NED): Enschede Marathon was postponed until 2021. New date for the race is April 18, it was planned to be held on April 19 this year.
PRAGUE (CZE): Good news for Czech athletes. Government will ease up some restrictions by April 20. This step would mean athletes will be able to train outdoors, but only in small groups. There is also another plan to allow events by June 8 but with maximum participation of 50 persons.
