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French Health and Solidarity Minister Olivier Véran has fired another shot among many travelling across the bows of an indecisive International Olympic Committee by stating that he does not see France sending any athletes to the Olympic Games in Tokyo this July given the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Speaking on the RTL television program Grand Jury today, Véran said that he did not want French athletes to go to Tokyo to participate in the Olympic Games, due to start July 24 and last into August before the Paralympics begins several weeks later.
He made clear that his opinion was not the binding position of France but Véran’s view from the realm of the most important ministry in the French Government of President Emmanuel Macron carries weight.
Véran spoke on a day when Tokyo 2020 arrived at a cliff-edge of decision, the IOC and Japanese organisers yet to come to a view even though cancellation or postponement look like the only options left.
- The Australian PM Tells His Nation that a travel ban applying to Olympic athletes and other other non-essential travel could last up to six months, and rule out the Tokyo Games
- A USOPC meeting of 300 athletes votes 75% in favour of shift to Tokyo 2021
- Swim legend Michael Gross tells IOC boss Thomas Bach ‘remember Moscow 1980 and go for Tokyo 2021 or 2022 to save Olympic Dreams’
- Chad le Clos is the latest athlete to describe how he is struggling to continue normal preparation for Tokyo 2020
- An IOC Executive Board meeting is due Tuesday
- Tokyo 2020 is said to be working on Plan B, C & D
In a concise statement, Véran noted:
“Do I intend to request the suspension of the Olympic Games as Minister of Health? No. Do I see myself sending athletes to Japan or asking them to prepare in the right conditions? The answer is no.”
During the week, the president of the French swimming federation (FFN), Gilles Sezionale called for a postponement of the Games until 2021, A pharmacist on the frontline of the coronavirus war, Sezionale denounced the lack of IOC & Tokyo 2020 action as “indecent and shocking”.
Sezionale was today backed by the president of the French Athletics Federation André Giraud, who appealed to the French Olympic Committee to ask the IOC to make a decision. the IOC to intervene and take a decision. The French Swimming Federation but also its American counterpart also expressed the same wish.
USA Swimming has also urged its NOC, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, to ask the IOC to postpone the Games until 2021, a request backed by Canada, supported by Australia and coinciding with similar calls from Norway, Serbia, Brazil and Spain.
Leading voices in Italy, the worst-hit of European nations so far in the corona crisis, have indicated that there will be no Italian team in Tokyo if the Games go ahead as planned. The leading swim website Nuoto.com launched a campaign two weeks ago under the hashtag #stopolympics and called on the world’s swim nations to show solidarity. That has come in abundance, Australia among nations leading the way.
Against that backdrop, IOC President Thomas Bach was still calling the option of postponing the Tokyo Games “premature” on Friday.
Tuesday will now arrive with not a single member of the IOC left in any doubt that cancellation or postponement are the only doors left open.
Extraordinary Events In Swimming History:
Our coverage:
- Michael Gross Issues Albatross Warning To Bach: Save Olympic Dreams With Tokyo 2021
- Swimming New Zealand Asks Athletes If They Would Attend Trials At A Time Of Coronavirus Crunch
- If Tokyo A No Go Cate Campbell Makes Call To Swim On Till 2024
- Maxime Rooney Offers Perspective in Time of Chaos
- Mel Marshall: Safety Of The Athletes & The Nation Is Paramount In Global Tragedy
- Bravo! To The Tokyo 2021 Advocates As Swim Leaders Navigate A Big Bend In The River
- ISL Boss Grigorishin: Health & Safety Paramount +2020-21 Season To Respect Any Tokyo Change
- Swimming Canada ‘very much aligned’ with USA Swimming on Olympic postponement
- No Fear! Clark Kent Is Washing Hands, Dishes & Keeping Fit To Fight The Bug & Beyond
- USOPC Responds to USA Swimming’s “Postpone the Games” Message
- USA Swimming Calls For Olympic Postponement In Face Of USOPC Indecision
- “Olympics At The Moment…Would Not Be Fair,” Declares Dolphins Coach Jacco Verhaeren
- Can’t Swim? Here Are 25 Things You CAN Do To Stay In The Zone & Get Fighting Fit
- European Aquatics Championships Postponed Until August As LEN & Buda Curse The Pest
- BOA Will Not ‘Endanger Health & Wellbeing Of Athletes’ For Sake Of July Olympics
- The Soak: Norway To IOC “Tokyo 2020 Neither Justifiable Nor Desirable Until Coronavirus Dead”
- Jacob Pebley to USA Swimming: “Only Moral Option” is Postponing Trials, Olympics
- International Swimming Hall of Fame Induction Weekend Postponed Until Fall of 2020
- Bob Bowman, Frank Busch Back Postponement As 2021 Olympics Gains Ground
- USA Swimming Cancels All Events Through April 30
- French Swimming Boss & Pharmacist On The Frontline of Coronavirus War Denounces IOC & Tokyo 2020 Inaction As “Indecent & Shocking”
- Germany Postpones Olympic Swimming Trials & National Championships Until At Least End May In Coronavirus Lockdown
- Swimming Canada Axes Open Water Championships, Eyes Late June for Pool Trials
- IOC Doesn’t Want to Make ‘Any Drastic Decisions’ on Tokyo 202o
- British Olympic Swimming Trials Cancelled, Para-Swim Intl Gone & FINA Diving World Series Postponed
- A Season For Citius-Altius-Fortius Spirit From Olympic Bosses Not “Games On As Planned Or I’m Taking My Ball Home”
- Ben Higson: A Guide To Beating The Coronavirus Blues
- Swimming New Zealand Postpones Olympic Trials, Sets Second Time-Trial Event
- Open Water Champs, Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo Latest USA Swimming Events Altered by COVID-19
- 600 Chinese Olympic Athletes Training In Coronavirus Containment In Paris Up To Departure For Tokyo 2020, Claims IOC Member
- End-April German Championships In Doubt As Olympic Bosses Quarrel In Public Over Fate Of Tokyo 2020
- The Week That Was: Coronavirus Causes Worldwide Shutdown
- Commentary: 2020 Spring Season Cancelled by NCAA is NOT the New Normal
- The Soak: Russian Trials to be Held, But Without Spectators: British Swimming CEO Buckner Pays Tribute
- Katie Drabot, NCAA Swimmers Trying To Find Places to Train, Sleep After Campuses Close
- Maddy Gough Forced To Train In Isolation After Rushing Home From High Altitude Training Camp in Spain
- Postcards From Pellegrini & Co In Coronavirus Containment: “We’ll Be Back Stronger Than Ever”
- New Zealand Marches On In March Madness Of Cancellations: Olympic Trials To Be Held Without Spectators
- NCAA Swimming Cancellation: ‘Powerful Stuff When You Have to Mess With Kids’ Dreams’
- Brown Water Polo’s Felix Mercado on Cancellation of Ivy Athletics: Doomsday for Our Season
- The Soak – Coronavirus Pandemic Causes 14th African Swimming Championships To Be Postponed
- Eve Thomas, Michael Pickett and Lea Muellner On Mad Dash Home To New Zealand Olympic Trials To Beat Quarantine Deadline
- Great Britain Olympic Swimming Trials Set To Be Postponed As UK U-Turns On Mass Gatherings & Sports Events
- France Postpones Olympic Swimming Trials & Nationals Until June & All Other National Events Are Off
- Stars React, ‘Restrategize’ after Postponement of Canadian Olympic Trials
- NCAA Agrees Eligibility Relief Appropriate For Spring Sports; Winter Sports Still Uncertain
- Swimming Canada Officially Postpones Olympic Trials, Paralympic Trials
- US Masters Swimming Cancels Spring National Championship
- USA Diving Suspends All Activities For 30 Days
- Ranomi Kromowidjojo Hails Healthcare Heroes & Urges Fans To Fight Coronavirus With Strict Hygiene Protocol
- European Aquatics Championships Swim Into Choppy Waters As Hungary Declares State Of Emergency & Locks Borders
- Dutch Olympic-Qualifier Swim Cups Cancelled In Coronavirus Lockdown
- The Soak – Swim Ireland Announces Postponement Of Olympic Trials Until End Of June
- Swimming Australia Cancels Australian Championships And Age Nationals to Combat Coronaavirus
- Swimming Canada Axes Open Water Championships, Eyes Late June for Pool Trials
- Spanish Swimming Nationals And Olympic Trials Latest In Wave Of Coronavirus Cancellations
- NCAA Cancels Winter Championships, Including Swimming And Diving
- USA Swimming to Cancel All Events For 30 Days Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic
- France Cancels Junior Nationals On Extraordinary Day In Swim History Ahead of Crunch Decision On Olympic Trials
- Scandinavian Swimming Shutdown: Danish Open, Olympic Trials, Swim Open Stockholm Off; Pools Shut & Norway Bans All Sport Events In Coronavirus Lockdown
- FINA Confirms Postponement of the Men’s Olympic Water Polo Qualifier in Rotterdam
- FINA Cancels/ Postpones Swathe Of Aquatic Events Due To Coronavirus Pandemic, Some Decisions Pending
- Peaty, Anderson & Co Set For Edinburgh Against The Backdrop Of Coronavirus
- Italian Struggle To Find Swimming Pools To Train In Sparks #stopolympics Coronavirus Lockdown Campaign
- The Soak – WADA Warns Of Unintended Consequences As Rodchenkov Act On Whistleblowing Takes Step Closer To Becoming U.S. Law
- British Olympic Association & Athletes Reach Agreement Over IOC Rule
- WHO Set To Give ‘Basic Thoughts’ On Olympics & Coronavirus As Unrepentant Tokyo 2020 Board Member Sounds “Warning Bell”
- NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships Now Closed to Spectators
- COVID-19 Leads Argentina to Cancel South American Championships
- Ivy League To Cancel All Athletic Events Through Remainder Of Spring
- Coronavirus Causes China Olympic Swimming Trials Postponement
- Italy Cancels Olympic Swim Trials & Wave Of Other Aquatic Championships In Coronavirus Lockdown
Guidance on Water and Coronavirus
- Coronavirus And Swimmers: CDC Issues Guidance On Water Transmission & COVID-19
- 2008 Uni of Arizona Research Called For More Study Into Survival Of Coronavirus in Water [UPDATED March 11 – Link To CDC Guide]
