Nearly three-quarters of the 300 athletes who participated in a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee town hall support the postponement of this summer’s Tokyo Games.
, the two federations with the most athletes at the Rio Olympics, to postpone the Tokyo Games because of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has brought much of the world to a standstill.
USA TODAY Sports obtained details of the poll from an AAC representative who participated in the meeting. The AAC was created to give athletes a means of providing direct advice and feedback to the USOPC. While conditions have improved in China, where the COVID-19 outbreak began, much of Europe and North America remain in the grips of the pandemic. The health-care system in Italy, where nearly 800 people have died, has been overrun, while the number of cases in Spain jumped by 5,000 just between Friday and Saturday.. Even before those restrictions were issued, most U.S. athletes found themselves unable to train.
To this point, the USOPC has followed the IOC’s lead, saying there is no need to make a decision now when the Games are four months away. The Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics is scheduled for July 24. More than 600 U.S. athletes are expected to compete in Tokyo. But the chorus of athletes saying the Games should be postponed and asking both the USOPC and IOC for more clarity is getting louder. On Friday afternoon, USA Swimming sent the USOPC a letter urging it to ask the IOC to postpone the Games. USA Track & Field made a similar request Saturday.
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