THE Olympics are on and the Namibia National Olympic Committee has given its wholehearted support of the Games, which will also feature stringent Covid-19 regulations and voluntary vaccinations.
At a press conference in Windhoek on Friday the president of the Namibia National Olympic Committee Abner Xoagub said that the Olympic family was united and fully committed to staging the Games.
“In the last couple of days the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has held consultation calls with the international federations and national olympic committees, and also getting reports from the athlete representatives.
“All of them are fully united and committed; all 206 national Olympic committees, all the international federations and the athletes are standing behind these Olympic Games. We see the same commitment on the Japanese side with the Japanese government, the organising committee and the Japanese Olympic Committee.”
Xoagub said that the IOC had identified several countermeasures to ensure the Games’ safety, which include regular information, country access, personal protective equipment, testing, tracing and vaccinations.
“All the information relating to these Covid-19 countermeasures is being documented in the first version of a Playbook that will be shared with the NOCs ahead of a Chefs de Mission briefing conducted jointly with the Tokyo 2020 organising committee in February,” he said.
He added that the playbook will serve as an essential reference document for the planning of any Covid-19 affected operations in Tokyo and will be regularly updated over the coming months to ensure all the necessary information and requirements are available.
Regarding vaccinations, the IOC said they will not be mandatory for participation, but encouraged athletes to vaccinate, saying it would contribute to increasing the safety of the Games.
“In this endeavour and within the next few months we expect the NOCs (National Olympic Committees) to play an important role at a national level. Our sincere hope is that a large number of Games participants will have the opportunity to be vaccinated in their home countries before travelling to Japan and China,” the IOC said, adding:
“At the same time the IOC is fully supportive of the fact that the most vulnerable sections of society and health care workers need to be first in line.”
Xoagub said that despite the setbacks suffered due to Covid-19, the Olympic movement as well as the NNOC had managed to turn the challenges into opportunities.
“We have strengthened the role of sport in society with our #StayStrong #StayActive #StayHealthy campaign by organising the world’s biggest digital Olympic workout, when during oner single day, Olympic Day, half a billion people were introduced to this important role of sport for society,” he said.
In this regard, the IOC has signed a cooperation agreement with the World Health Organisation and started a “Healthy Together”campaign, which is rolling out internationally, while the UN General Assembly at the end of last year passed a resolution, which calls on the governments of the world to include sport in their recovery programs.
He said that Tokyo was the best prepared Olympic city ever, while the Tokyo Olympics and the Beijing Paralympics also had the support of the G20 Leaders Summit.
Regarding Namibia’s athletes, Xoagub said that five had already qualified, but that they hoped that several more athletes would still make the grade.
Helalia Johannes (athletics marathon), Jonas Jonas (boxing), Dan Craven and Vera Adrian (cycling), and Maike Diekmann (rowing) are the qualified athletes, while the NNOC is hopeful that several more will qualify in athletics, boxing, mountain bike cycling, gymnastics trampoline, karate, swimming and wrestling.
Xoagub said that their scholarship funding from Olympic Solidarity continued and was not affected by Covid-19 and that the NNOC had transferred some scholarships between athletes in cases where athletes did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. The current scholarship holders are Helalia Johannes, Jonas Jonas, Tryagain Ndevelo (boxing), Trofimus Johannes (boxing),
Alex Miller (cycling) and Maike Diekmann (rowing).
Seven other athletes have been assisted through the IOC’s continental grant, namely Beatrice Masilingi and Reinhold Thomas (athletics), Michelle Vorster and Dan Craven (cycling), Romio Goliath (wrestling), and Suzelle Pronk and Fredy Mwiya (karate).
The NNOC has also committed to assist the swimmers Phillip Seidler and Xander Skinner to attend their qualification events.
Xoagub said that the NNOC had received a further US$34 294 through Olympic Solidarity, which was used for local training camps, with OS’s permission.
Xoagub said that gymnastics had held several training camps in Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund; karate at Walvis Bay and Pretoria; swimming in Windhoek and wrestling at Swakopmund, while another camp has been confirmed for South Africa.
