The Olympic Federation of Ireland is using the example of how its Olympic Rowing team is denied access to the water due to COVID-19 travel restrictions as part of a plea for a number of 'straightforward measures' to be put in place to support prospective Olympic and Paralympic athletes preparing for Tokyo 2021.
The OFI called today for measures to be put in place to support athletes during the current crisis. Sport Ireland, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the relevant Ministers have all been working very hard to request minor exemptions for Olympic and Paralympic athletes but unfortunately, there has been no green light to their requests to date.
Not all Olympic sports are affected, however, as Olympic sailing team members returned to training at Irish Sailing's Dun Laoghaire Harbour High-Performance Centre on May 18 as Afloat reported here with Olympic silver medalist Annalise Murphy getting back training after 55 days in lockdown.
The measures are being requested for a very small number of prospective Tokyo athletes (approx. 200 across Ireland) in line with medically reviewed, internationally accepted health protocols The situation is becoming increasingly difficult as more and more competitor nations return to training, putting Irish athletes at a significant disadvantage that may soon become too big to breach.
Peter Sherrard, Olympic Federation of Ireland CEO explains, “To take one sport as an example, we have a situation at the moment where rowing clubs for recreational users in Ireland are open in line with government protocols, yet our Olympic rowers can’t access the water in line with those same protocols because they are living outside the permitted kilometre radius from their national training centre. The solution is a simple waiver from the relevant Health authorities for this small number of athletes so that they can travel the required distance to train, just as their competitors internationally have been granted weeks ago. Frustrations of this nature are being experienced by elite athletes from a variety of sports.
“Our Olympic Sports have all prepared very detailed protocols which have been reviewed medically for a return to the venues like the Sport Ireland Campus, the Sport Ireland Institute and the National Aquatic Centre and National Rowing Centre, in advance of, and in isolation from the general public, as is happening in other European countries.
“Irish sport and Irish athletes have been incredibly respectful throughout lockdown and will continue to support all the measures that need to be implemented. While phased plans have been agreed for a recreational return to sport, we believe that the Olympic and Paralympic athletes who represent us internationally need prioritisation to return without delay.
“As a group, the athletes of Team Ireland have shown true resilience and have been role models to us all throughout this crisis, but the longer they are away from their high-performance training environments, the harder it will be for them to return to optimum fitness and their peak performance in time for next year’s Games.”
