Concern has been raised that para athletes may be at more risk of severe outcomes if they contract COVID-19, and athletes with particular impairments need to take more stringent precautions to protect themselves.
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.
Featuring 539 events across 22 sports contested at 21 venues, the Paralympic Games will take place in the Japanese capital city from 24 August – 5 September.
The Tokyo Summer Paralympics, postponed by one year due to the new coronavirus outbreak, will run from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5, 2021, the organizing committee for the games said.
Japan has fielded a Para equestrian squad at every Paralympics since Sydney 2000. But Tokyo 2020 was set to be special, with high expectations of medalling for the first time and on their home soil.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has agreed to extend until 1 August 2020 the deadline for the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) to verify the eligibility of all 4.0 and 4.5 class players set to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. In January 2020, the IPC announced that the IWBF was non-compliant with the IPC Athlete Classification Code and that immediate measures needed to be taken.
Japanese para athletes with visual impairments or severe disabilities have struggled to train due to the closure of facilities and the need to practice social distancing due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
The World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan have been rescheduled to 26 August-4 September 2022. The Kobe World Championships were initially scheduled for 17-26 September 2021 but have been shifted to 2022 to avoid a clash with the Paralympics.
Volunteers for the Paralympic Games said the postponement will provide extra time for preparing barrier-free access to venues and transportation.
IPC President, Andrew Parsons said: reaction:
“Postponing the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as a result of the global COVID-19 outbreak is absolutely the right thing to do. The health and well-being of human life must always be our number one priority and staging a sport event of any kind during this pandemic is simply not possible.”
Barrier Free Japan