During the COVID-19 pandemic, underlying conditions are a problem for Paralympic athletes hoping to attend the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games ‬

From Jiji Press

August 19 2020

TOKYO – Athletes seeking to participate in the Tokyo Paralympic Games next year and staff members are struggling to balance preparations to compete and measures against the novel coronavirus, officials at the Japanese Para-Sports Association have said in a recent interview. 

“Sports organizations with athletes who have underlying conditions, must be extremely careful” about the risks of coronavirus infection, Tomohiro Ida, a member of the JPSA executive board and head of training at the association, said. “While training camps have been called off for the time being, coaches are checking up on athletes practicing by themselves.”

“The average age for Paralympic athletes is higher than that for Olympians, and some of them have lifestyle-related diseases,” Tetsuo Suyama, also an executive board member and head of the JPSA’s medical committee, said. “There are several such athletes in many sports, so caution is needed.”

Suyama noted that there are issues regarding measures to prevent coronavirus infection unique to people with disabilities, such as the difficulty of hand-washing for those with only one hand.

“There is a need to consider infection prevention measures that will be taken before, during and after competition,” he said. “It is important to take a variety of measures, even if they are small.”