Running News Daily

Running News Daily is edited by Bob Anderson in Mountain View, California USA and team in Thika Kenya, La Piedad Mexico, Bend Oregon and Chandler Arizona.   Send your news items to bob@mybestruns.com  Advertising opportunities available.   Over one million readers and growing.  Train the Kenyan Way at KATA Running Retreat Kenya.  (Kenyan Athletics Training Academy) in Thika Kenya.  Opening in june 2024 KATA Running retreat Portugal.  Learn more about Bob Anderson, MBR publisher and KATA director/owner, take a look at A Long Run the movie covering Bob's 50 race challenge.  

Index to Daily Posts · Sign Up For Updates · Run The World Feed

Share

2020 Tokyo Olympics organizers says there is no Plan B for summer games amid coronavirus fears

Tokyo Olympic organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said there is no 'Plan B' for the upcoming summer games despite growing fears that the coronavirus could impact the event, which are set to begin in July, the Associated Press reported.

Speaking at a press conference Friday, the organizers took 11 questions, all of which were related to the virus, athletes and fans coming in from China, and the continuation of the planned events. 

"Certainly the advice we've received externally from the WHO (World Health Organization) is that there's no case for any contingency plans or canceling the games or moving the games," IOC inspection team head John Coates said during the news conference, CBS Sports reported.

Coates also claimed he is "100% confident" that the Olympic games will continue as scheduled.

"It is meaningless to predict a timing when the coronavirus may come to an end,"  former regional director of the WHO and an infectious disease expert from Japan Shigeru Omi told the Associated Press separate from the news conference on Thursday. "We should assume that the virus has already been spreading in Japan. People should understand that we cannot only rely on border controls to prevent the spread of the disease."

However, CEO of the Tokyo Olympics Toshiro Muto said on February 4 at a meeting with International Paralympic Committee officials that he was "seriously worried" about the impact the coronavirus could have on the "momentum towards the games," the Associated Press reported.

Several qualifying events have already been canceled or moved because of the virus, CNN reported. Asia and Oceanian region's qualifying boxing event has been canceled, and the Asian Football Confederation's women's football qualifiers has been moved from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, to Nanjing.

China is expected to bring in a team of about 600 athletes to the Tokyo games this summer.

 "We continue also to monitor, particularly the Chinese that will be coming here," Coates continued. "You'll find that the Chinese teams are mostly out of China. That's the athletes and officials."

As of now, there has been one coronavirus-induced fatality in Japan, making it the second death outside of China, the Washington Post reported. To compare, 1,380 deaths have occured in China. 

(02/17/2020) Views: 1,217 ⚡AMP
by Brittany Chang
Share
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Fifty-six years after having organized the Olympic Games, the Japanese capital will be hosting a Summer edition for the second time, originally scheduled from July 24 to August 9, 2020, the games were postponed due to coronavirus outbreak, the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23 to August 8 in 2021, according to the International Olympic Committee decision. ...

more...


Running News Headlines


Copyright 2024 MyBestRuns.com 23,603