Team GB's Chef de Mission Mark England says he is absolutely sure the Olympic Games will go ahead as planned in Tokyo this summer following a concerted push to get athletes vaccinated; the BOA has confirmed all its athletes plus support staff will be fully vaccinated
Monday 24 May 2021 17:30, UK
Team GB's Chef de Mission Mark England says he is "100 per cent" confident the Olympics will go ahead in Tokyo this summer after a drive to get the athletes vaccinated.
There has been concern about the Games taking place during the coronavirus pandemic with a recent poll indicating 70 per cent of people in Japan want the event scrapped.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) confirmed last week that all Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes plus support staff will be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before departure for Tokyo while the IOC confirmed on Friday that it expects more than 80 per cent of Games participants in the Olympic village to be vaccinated by the time the event begins on July 23.
"One hundred per cent the Games will take place, the opening ceremony is July 23 and everybody is working towards that," England told Sky Sports News.
"I depart on July 4 so I will do all the pre-Games set-up and enter the team formally on July 7 so they are the time frames we're working too.
"All credit to everybody in Tokyo for the work they've done in very difficult and challenging conditions to prepare the Olympic environment for everybody and what has been done here in terms of preparing teams to be in a position to be selected and make the qualification standards has been nothing short of remarkable.
"We understand that we are going into a Games which is very challenging, which is very different and I think it's fantastic news that over 75 to 80 per cent of those athletes who will be in the Olympic village will be vaccinated."
Britain had been in a minority of leading medal-winning nations not to promise vaccinations for athletes beyond the national roll-out, citing the importance of prioritising the vulnerable and key workers.
However, news of a deal between the IOC and Pfizer effectively brought an end to any moral dilemma, with officials keen to stress the vaccines for athletes will come from those additional doses, rather than the existing national
supply.
"I think that's really important for the Japanese public to understand and to absorb and great news obviously that the British delegation will be vaccinated as a result of the terrific partnership between the IOC and Pfizer.
"It's important all of the 205 international Olympic committees, all of the technical officials, all of the media delegation that will go there respects the rules that have been set out for us and we will 100 per cent be doing that.
"The guidelines and the rules of engagement have been published and we're right behind them. We think they make a lot of good sense.
"We have a big army back at headquarters who are putting in place all of the right and appropriate decisions and protocols to make sure that we are as safe as we possibly can be.
"The rules are very clear and they're there to keep our athletes safe so we'll go into the Olympic village five days before the individual competitions and athletes need to leave 48 hours after they've either been eliminated or their discipline or sport has completed.
"We're entirely comfortable with that and we think it makes great sense."
