Olympic Federation of Ireland Statement
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are set to start on the 23 July 2021 and run until the 8 August 2021. This announcement was made following an IOC Executive Board meeting today. The Opening Ceremony of the XXXII Olympic Games had been scheduled for the 24 July this year and were forced to be postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The delay of one year was agreed by the board following discussions with the Tokyo 2020 organising committee and the International Federations.
The confirmation of a date provides clarity for the Olympic Federation of Ireland who can begin work on the addressing the operational adjustments that need to take place following this reschedule.
Speaking today, Chef de Mission for Team Ireland in Tokyo, Tricia Heberle welcomed the clarification of a date,
“Now the athletes have a start date for the Games, they can work with their Performance Directors and coaches to start mapping out preparations. Importantly for athletes and sport, the next information we need clarity on are any changes to qualification and the rescheduling of qualification events. This will take some time, so in the short term the focus remains the same, stay healthy and safe over the coming months.
“The priority now is for everyone to follow the government guidelines to protect Ireland and the rest of the world against further spread of this virus. A July 2021 start means that we have plenty of time to reactivate preparatory plans and for athletes currently in modified training or on a break of sorts, this period of time can still allow some positive impact on performance.
“If we are smart, this enforced break can make Team Ireland even better.”
Paralympics Ireland Statement
Paralympics Ireland has welcomed the announcement of the new date for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games which will now begin on August 24th, 2021 and will conclude on September 5th2021.
The announcement was made today following a board meeting of the International Paralympic Committee in Bonn, Germany.
Speaking about the rescheduled event Paralympic Ireland CEO, Miriam Malone said ‘Paralympics Ireland welcomes the announcement of a new date of August 24th for the 2020 Paralympic Games. This gives more certainty to our athletes, their support teams and our own high performance team who can now plan their preparations for the competition. Our focus is now to ensure that any Irish athletes that compete at the Tokyo Games will be at their physical peak for the games.
‘Paralympics Ireland will continue to monitor the development of the COVID 19 health crisis over the coming months to ensure the safety of all Irish athletes. We will follow the expert advice of our Chief Medical Officer, Sport Ireland, the Department of Health and the World Health Organisation when deciding what events, training camps and competitions up to and including the Paralympic Games that Irish athletes will take part in.’