By: Staff Writer
April 16, 2021
Head of the Bahamas Olympic Committee says that athletes are resilient, they understand the COVID-19 restrictions that will be placed on them for the upcoming Olympic games in Tokyo Japan in July of this year.
Romell “Fish” Knowles, speaking to Caribbean Magazine Plus said that the full Bahamian squad for this year’s summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan has not been selected yet because there are still some qualifying events that need to take place ahead of the games in July. But, he feels confident that the International Olympic Committee will have the athlete’s best interest in heart for this difficult COVID-19 games.
Mr Knowles said: “We don’t know yet how many athletes are going to the games this year because the qualifiers that are being hosted around the world have either been postponed or cancelled. So we’re waiting for the international federations from the various sports to determine, the ranking and how they’re going to qualify in some sports that are going to qualify athletes for the Olympics.”
The games are going to be held during July 23 to August 8 this year and like many other international and major US sports events, the games will be held with no spectators in the crowd to cheer on their favourite athletes.
Some may find this strange or mean, but Mr Knowles claims this is not only the standard practice in the still dangerous days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also necessary for everyone’s safety.
Mr Knowles also said: “What the IOC is attempting to do is to create a bubble. So only the athletes and people allowed in the village are only allowed to go to the venue of competition and training and back to the village. It will be very sterile.
“The organizing team here in Japan, and the International Committee is doing all they can to ensure that the games are safe as possible.”
The price tag on hosting the Olympics in Japan this year has been valued at $22bn US with nearly two thirds coming from public funding, just to have the games without any spectators or fans to be mindful of.
Despite not having any fans to cheer them on or the safety protocols making this year’s games a little more challenging, Mr Knowles said that there is not a hint of disappointment from any of the Bahamian Olympic hopefuls, saying that most of them are professional athletes and they have been to other competitions since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and they understand that it must be done this way.
Mr Knowles also said: “Athletes are really resilient. They understand the challenges with international competition in these times and other athletes around the world are going through the same thing. The Olympics is the prima-donna of competition that could decide their financial future.”
The Bahamian Olympic committee is looking at fielding at least a 30 member team depending on how qualifiers go over the next three months, and most of that team will comprise of track and field and swimming disciplines where Mr Knowles told us that he is expecting The Bahamas to come up with at least two “sure medals” for these games in that of sprinter and 400 meter gold medallist in 2016 Shaunae Miller-Uibo and another 400 meter runner and World Championships silver medallist in 2017, Steven Gardiner.
The World Athletics Relays, formerly the IAAF Relays, will be a primary qualifying event for sprinters this year and many are waiting on these events to be completed as Mr Knowles to know where the track and field complement for the games will round out for each respective team. Mr Knowles said, however, that a major boxing qualifier I Buenos Aires, Argentina, was cancelled as of Thursday and the boxing complement is still up in limbo as to who will be selected.
The Olympic boxing qualification tournaments for athletes from the Americas for the Tokyo Games in 2021 has been cancelled by the IOC Boxing Task Force (BTF), due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The event had been due to take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from May 10 to May 16.