Despite growing criticism, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) insisted Wednesday it remains full steam ahead for this year’s Summer Games in Tokyo.
With the coronavirus continuing to spread and the death toll climbing, many are calling on the IOC to postpone the Games, scheduled to begin July 24. The IOC made a number of calls on Wednesday to reassure jittery partners, including one with more than 200 athlete-representatives from around the world.
“It was constructive in a way that everybody realized that we have still more than four months to go and we will address this action,” said IOC president Thomas Bach. “We said we were going to continue to be very realistic in our analysis.”
Bach said the IOC will continue to push toward Tokyo while “safeguarding the health of the athletes and contributing to the containment of the virus.”
WATCH | Bach speaks following call:
IOC President Thomas Bach recaps the conference call he had with athlete representatives, says ‘we will keep acting in a responsible way that is in the interest of the athletes’. 1:29
Retired race walker Inaki Gomez, a member of both the Canadian and World Athletics athletes commissions, was on the call, along with a number of other Canadian athletes.
He said there was a push to either postpone or cancel the Games because many feel they can’t properly safely train and compete.
“We do need to take a serious look in the mirror and think about how, as an athlete community, are we doing our part,” Gomez said. “It needs to be communicated freely rather than, you know, this kind of party line that things go on business as usual.”
Gomez says he understands the IOC’s commercial realities, but says it’s putting athletes in a difficult position.
“It shows recklessness given the fact that most countries are taking extreme measures of no travel and cancellation of events,” Gomez said.
“Telling (athletes) to continue to train as best as they can — well, the reality is that’s not viable in many countries. So let’s be honest, let’s start by saying, ‘Guys, self-isolation is of primary importance.'”
WATCH | Impact of COVID-19 on Tokyo 2020:
As of now the Games are still on, but is it only a matter of time until that changes? 4:15
Canadian middle-distance runner Charles Philibert-Thiboutot concurs.
“The athletes are far down the list of priorities for the IOC. They think they can beat the coronavirus — it’s definitely the other way around. Their lack of flexibility is not only insulting to athletes but everyone fighting the coronavirus.”
Longtime sprint coach Stuart McMillan also blasted the IOC, saying on Twitter athletes can’t prepare as told while also protecting themselves and others.
“So that leaves coaches and athletes a choice: Self-isolate, and try to make the best of it — or continue to gather together in groups with your coach,” he wrote.
I’ve given this a lot of thought, and over the past few days my perspective has changed. I was voted to represent and protect athletes. As an IOCAC member, 6x Olympian and Medical doctor in training on the front lines in ER up until this week,these are my thoughts on <a href=”https://twitter.com/Olympics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Olympics</a> : <a href=”https://t.co/vrvfsQZ1GO”>pic.twitter.com/vrvfsQZ1GO</a>
Top German official Clemens Prokop, who was president of the German Athletic Association for 16 years, told a German newspaper Bach is an “unsuitable crisis manager” unable to “make the necessary decisions.”
Margaret MacNeill, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education who focuses on athlete’s rights to health, says she expects more athletes to start speaking up about what she calls the IOC’s “extremely irresponsible” decision to proceed with the Games.
“Athletes, they are reticent to complain about their basic health issues because your window of opportunity for going to the Olympics is so narrow that you don’t want to give up that opportunity,” MacNeill said.
At the same time, she says athletes continue to see that their voices matter and have the ability to effect change.
“There’s no excitement, there’s no glory, there’s no wonderful storylines without the athletes. The marketers aren’t going to get out there and do the long jump. So athletes do have a lot of power.”
WATCH | Bach thanks athletes in conference call:
IOC President Thomas Bach thanks the athletes, via conference call to their representatives, for accepting the adjustments that have arose due to the coronavirus. 0:55
If the IOC doesn’t listen, other factors will affect attendance in Tokyo, says Philibert-Thiboutot.
“Countries will start deciding to boycott. Athletes are humans and right now governments are putting in place all of these measures to ensure we don’t spread the virus,” he said. “Having people from around the world going to this one place and then flying back home after two weeks is probably the worst thing you could do.”
Gomez expects the chorus of Canadian complaints to grow louder.
“You could see athletes being a bit more vocal. Not to say that we’re more conscious by any means, but I think we tend to take a position that is a lot more progressive and globally minded. So it’s possible that athletes choose not to participate.”
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
