Tokyo Olympics: Not all Indian shooters to be part of opening ceremony amid Covid-19 concerns
Tokyo Olympics: India shooters are exercising caution ahead of the opening ceremony as a few of them might miss Friday’s event at the National Stadium amid Covid-19 concerns.
Tokyo Olympics is all set to get underway from July 23, a year after they were postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic. The excitement is building up but there is caution in the air as well as the Japanese capital is battling a rise in infections with the Games taking place under a Covid-19 state of emergency
The Olympic Games amid the pandemic is going to be different and a first glimpse of the subdued fervour at the quadrennial global event was on show when the softball and women’s football competitions got underway on July 21 in front of no fans.
The opening ceremony will lack the usual grandeur as less than 1,000 dignitaries are expected to attend the landmark event which will be held at the National Stadium. As it turns out, National Olympic Committees are cautious over sending athletes in bulk for the opening ceremony, which may prove to be a source of infection.
Shooting coach and former Olympian, Suma Shirur, who has travelled with the Indian contingent to the Games, told India Today that not all shooters will be part of the opening ceremony. With the shooting medal events set to start the day after the opening ceremony, India’s shooting contingent is keen on avoiding any risk.
Shiruru also confirmed that it’s a personal decision for every athlete and it is only natural that some of them would want to be part of the opening ceremony, a once in a lifetime event.
As many as 4 shooters, including Apurvi Chandela, Elavenil Valarivan, Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma, will be in action in the women’s 10m Air Pistol and men’s 10m Air Rifle events on July 24.
Great Britain to have only 30 athletes at opening ceremony.
Notably, The Times reported that only 30 of 376 Britain athletes will attend the opening ceremony on Friday as they are wary of Covid-19 risk.
“Team GB would normally expect about 200 athletes to attend the Games curtain raiser at the Olympic stadium. But The Times understands that as few as 30 athletes from the 376-strong British team are likely to attend.”
Notably, veteran boxer Mary Kom and India men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh will be India’s flagbearers at the opening ceremony.
Earlier in the day, it was decided in the Chief de Mission meeting that only 6 officials per NOC will be allowed to attend the opening ceremony on July 23.
The officials would include coaches and members of the support staff. Officials with the IOA would fall under the category of delegates. For the IOA, the organising committee would let them know the names of the Indian delegates who can attend the opening ceremony.
247 total views
