Olympic Qualifying Events and the IOC’s response to COVID-19
The Barbados Olympic Association Inc. (BOA) today announced that it is closely following all information possible on the COVID – 19 and its impact on the Olympic Games qualifying events.In a memo on Thursday to presidents and secretaries of National Federations who are preparing athletes to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Games, Secretary-General of the BOA Erskine Simmons noted that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is working to ensure fair access to all athletes and teams to the remaining qualifying events by addressing any challenges International Federations (IFs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) may have as soon as they are identified.
According to Simmons, where required, the IOC has approved the concept of allowing for changes to the existing Tokyo 2020 qualification systems themselves. These would include the extension of the qualification period or the re-assignment of quota allocations to upcoming events.
Barbados’ Chef de Mission for the 2020 Olympic Games, Cameron Burke, said that he is daily monitoring for such changes, and the impact they might have on the Barbadian athletes vying to qualify.
“At present, there are seven National Federations with athletes who are seeking to qualify for the games. These are Athletics, Boxing, Judo, Shooting, Surfing, Swimming and Tennis. Already, qualifiers for Boxing in Argentina and Judo in Peru, have been postponed. Consequently, we are monitoring information coming from these IFs and the other disciplines to ensure that all our athletes have a fair shot at qualifying. In the meantime, we expect that all the athletes would continue their preparations and training and similarly we in the BOA will continue preparing administratively,” Burke said.
The BOA continues to closely monitor updates from the IOC which at present remains confident that with the support of the IFs and NOCs, it will be able to adapt as necessary to the constantly evolving impact of COVID-19 and find credible solutions to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 qualification process in each sport.
