TOKYO: Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi said athletes were being forced to take health risks as competitors started to speak out about holding the Tokyo Games during the coronavirus crisis.
Stefanidi and British heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson both voiced concerns after the International Olympic Committee said it was “fully committed” to running the Games as scheduled from July 24.
An IOC member called the body’s stance “insensitive and irresponsible,” saying athletes were facing “anxiety and heartbreak” as they try to train during the virus emergency.
Stefanidi, one of Greece’s most prominent athletes, was scheduled to hand the ceremonial flame to Japanese officials before the Greek leg of the torch relay was scrapped over COVID-19.
“The IOC wants us to keep risking our health, our family’s health and public health to train every day?” she tweeted.
“You are putting us in danger right now, today, not in 4 months.”
On Tuesday, minutes before the IOC statement, the Euro 2020 football tournament was delayed for a year, bowing to the crisis that has paralyzed Europe and drastically curtailed international travel.
Olympic qualifying tournaments are among the swathe of sports events that have been canceled or postponed, with only 57 percent of athletes booking their places so far.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Stefanidi. “What about team sports that have to train together? What about swimming? What about gymnastics that they touch the same objects?
“There is zero consideration of the risk they are putting us in right now.”
Johnson-Thompson, the world heptathlon champion, criticized the IOC for telling athletes to train “as best they can,” saying it was at odds with stringent government health measures.
“I feel under pressure to train and keep the same routine which is impossible,” she wrote on Twitter.
“It’s difficult (to) approach the season when everything has changed in the lead-up apart from the ultimate deadline,” added the Briton.
Doubts are increasingly being expressed about holding the Olympics on time, after the outbreak that first exploded in China spread to Asia and then worldwide, infecting almost 200,000 people and killing 7,900.
On Wednesday an Olympic gymnastics qualifier in Tokyo, doubling as a test event, became the latest competition to be canceled.
A day earlier, the deputy head of Japan’s Olympic committee said he had tested positive for coronavirus.
But the IOC insisted “there is no need for any drastic decisions at this stage” adding that “any speculation at this moment would be counter-productive.”
Hayley Wickenheiser, a Canadian IOC member with four ice hockey gold medals, warned “this crisis is bigger than even the Olympics.”
“From an athlete perspective, I can only imagine and try to empathize with the anxiety and heartbreak athletes are feeling right now,” she said in a statement.
“The uncertainty of not knowing where you’re going to train tomorrow as facilities close and qualification events are canceled all over the world would be terrible if you’ve been training your whole life for this.”
Wickenheiser added: “I think the IOC insisting this will move ahead, with such conviction, is insensitive and irresponsible given the state of humanity.”
Middle-distance runner Jess Judd also criticized the IOC advice on training, while fellow British track athlete Guy Learmonth has told The Guardian that the Olympics should be postponed.
‘Putting us in danger’ — athlete concerns grow ahead of Tokyo Olympics
https://arab.news/9z7fg
‘Putting us in danger’ — athlete concerns grow ahead of Tokyo Olympics
- Olympic qualifying tournaments are among the swathe of sports events that have been canceled or postponed
- Deputy head of Japan’s Olympic committee had tested positive for coronavirus
Elvira holds his nerve to win 2026 Dubai Invitational
- The Spaniard finished top after five players had shared the lead on the final day at Dubai Creek Resort
DUBAI: A nerveless display during a roller-coaster final round saw Nacho Elvira come out on top to claim his third DP World Tour title at the 2026 Dubai Invitational.
No fewer than five players shared the lead on a chaotic Sunday at Dubai Creek Resort, where overnight leader Elvira cruised into a three-shot lead following a third birdie of the day at the seventh.
He left the door ajar when finishing his front nine with successive bogeys as Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Daniel Hillier and Marcus Armitage joined the Spaniard at the summit at nine under down the final stretch.
Lowry made his move with a birdie at the 15th, only to double bogey the last and spectacularly fall out of contention.
Hillier was the clubhouse leader at nine under, but Elvira carded his first birdie of the back nine at the 17th to earn a one-shot lead down the last and calmly rolled a final par for a brilliant victory.
“It means the world,” the 38-year-old said. “If you told me on Tuesday that I’d be winning this tournament I’d have never believed you.
“It’s a dream come true, especially having the family here. I’ve always dreamed to have my kids walking up to me with a win and anything that happens after this, nothing compares to this.
“I knew at some point it was going to be difficult, especially with the great players playing in front of me. I somehow managed to make a par on 10, managed somehow to make a par on 11 and I guess I calmed down a little after this and stayed patient.
“To be honest with you, I wasn’t nervous until the very last putt — the one-footer I had for the win. I knew what I needed to do, I knew I needed to be patient. I think there are so many positives from this week and I couldn’t be happier.”
Elvira opened with a birdie to maintain his two-shot overnight lead at nine under, but it was reduced to nothing when Lowry birdied three of his first four holes.
The Spaniard became the first man to reach double figures with a birdie at the fourth and when he birdied the seventh, he led by three at 11 under.
Lowry had bogeyed the latter hole to slip back to eight under alongside Armitage, who had birdied the first and seventh to reach that mark, before Elvira twitched at the top.
Bogeys at the eighth and ninth saw him drop to nine under and he was joined by Armitage after the Englishman’s birdie at the tenth.
McIlroy seemed out of contention after two dropped shots and gain during his opening seven holes, but he surged into co-leadership after five straight birdies from the ninth.
Hillier, who had eagled the 13th, joined the party at nine under after his fourth birdie of the day at the 15th.
Lowry made it a five-way tie for the lead with a birdie at the 13th before Armitage dropped back one with a bogey at the 14th.
The Irishman jumped ahead on his own with a 27-foot birdie putt at the 15th before Hillier set the clubhouse target of nine under following a flawless 65.
The world No. 26 was inches from increasing his lead to two shots at his 16th, while McIlroy almost holed out from a greenside bunker to birdie the last, but two-putted to fall back to eight under.
Elvira still had the final two holes to play and piled the pressure on Lowry with birdie at the penultimate hole to rejoin the lead at ten under.
Just as the Spaniard drained his seven-foot birdie putt, Lowry’s bunker shot flew the final green and into the water to card a stunning double bogey. That meant Elvira only needed a par on the 72nd hole for victory and he showed nerves of steel to do just that from one foot.
Elvira was handed the trophy by tournament host Abdullah Al Naboodah, chairman of Al-Naboodah Investments and European Tour Group non-executive board member.
“Congratulations to Nacho Elvira on an outstanding performance and well-earned victory,” he said.
“The caliber of golf from both our professionals and amateurs has been remarkable. The pro-am format is what makes the Dubai Invitational special, and it remains an honor to host the world’s best here. Thank you to everyone who took part and to our global partners DP World and Rolex, along with our tournament partners Discovery Land Company, Dubai Basketball, Gulfstream and Silverlake.
“We also extend our thanks to the Wasl and World of Hyatt for providing the unparalleled backdrop of the Dubai Creek Golf Club and special thanks to the Dubai Sports Council and the Emirates Golf Federation for their continued support for the tournament and golf in the region. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2028."
Frenchman Julien Guerrier bounced back from a double bogey at the second with seven birdies to sit in a share of third at eight under alongside Spain’s David Puig, McIlroy and Lowry.
Armitage double-bogeyed the last to join Matt Wallace and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen at six under, while France’s Antoine Rozner and South African duo Thriston Lawrence and Dylan Frittelli were one shot further back to wrap up the top 10.
