Calls for the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, coming from such people as U.S. President Donald Trump and a member of the Games' organizing committee, have begun raising concern about the impact on qualifying trials among the staff of Japanese sports events.
Even with the postponement and cancellation of other international competitions -- which serve as the basis for the selection process -- each sport association has no choice but to proceed with the process on the premise that the Games will be held as scheduled despite the uncertainty of the situation.
Qualifications for participation in the Tokyo Olympics are determined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the respective International Sports Federations (IFs). Based on the qualifications, national sports associations in each country and region set their own selection criteria.
On July 13 last year, the diving duo of Ken Terauchi and Sho Sakai became the first Japanese across all sports to unofficially qualify for the Olympics. Since then, a total of about 100 athletes, including those who are informally qualified or who have met criteria such as earning sufficient points at international competitions, have secured their Olympic berths.
As for upcoming trials, the individual sports associations are having a hard time dealing with the matter. The Japan Softball Association, for example, has decided to announce its national team candidates on April 3 -- instead of this month -- due to the "situation in which meetings in the selection process must be postponed," according to an official of the association.
A person in charge of developing athletes at one sport association told The Yomiuri Shimbun that, speaking hypothetically, "If the Games were postponed for a year, the power balance of the country's top players will change. If they were postponed for two years, there will surely be a generational turnover, and the lineup of players will change. In that sense, a fresh round of qualifying trials would become necessary."
A Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) member said postponement would mean that "the situation would be irreparable for veteran athletes who have been playing hard on the active list while setting their peak for 2020. It'll be utterly pitiful."
As for the Paralympics, more than 40 people have already unofficially qualified for spots on the national teams, including more than 10 in track and field.
Tatsuru Ibusuki, who chairs the athlete development committee of Japan Para Athletics, said, "The only thing we can do is to keep preparing for the event and developing our athletes on the assumption that the Games will be held as scheduled."
The postponement of the London Marathon, which also serves as a qualifying game for men's and women's wheelchair marathons, will have an impact on the future selection process. Ibusuki said: "I asked the IF about qualifying trials of marathoners. We want to deal with it calmly."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
