Olympics-Samoa withdraws from weightlifter in latest setback by host Japan Reuters

Authors: Ian Ransom and Jonathan Barrett

Melbourne (Reuters)-The Samoan Olympic Committee said on Thursday that its weightlifting team will withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics due to COVID-19 restrictions. This is the latest setback in Japan’s arduous effort to host the world’s largest sporting event during the pandemic.

Committee Chairman Patrick Feple told Reuters that 11 Samoan athletes are eligible to participate in the Olympics, but only three of them are weightlifters in Samoa and are banned from participating in events that will start later this month.

“We are still in a state of emergency, we are in a state of lockdown,” he told Reuters by phone. He added that this Pacific island country will participate in the Olympics because other athletes already overseas are very clear.

Samoa’s weightlifting boss, Tuaopepe Jerry Wallwork, was disappointed by the news and told Reuters: “It’s horrible, frustrating, and very frustrating.”

“This will have a huge impact on the athletes, and we have invested many years in this event,” he added.

The Summer Olympics were originally scheduled to start on July 23, after being postponed by a year due to the pandemic. But public opinion polls show that most Japanese people still oppose holding this event this year because health experts warned that it may trigger another wave of infections and produce new and more effective variants.

Japan may extend coronavirus prevention measures https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2020-japan-coronavirus/japan-likely-to-extend-covid-19-curbs-in-tokyo-as- Government sources said the number of new infections in the capital rose to 714 on Wednesday, the highest level in more than a month. Infection-rising-source-idUSKCN2E73HF?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews advances the number of infections in the Greater Tokyo area by two weeks Or longer.

The source added that depending on the degree of pressure on the medical system, the government may restore a full-scale emergency in Tokyo.

The source said that Tokyo and the three neighboring counties are in a “quasi” state of emergency until July 11. The retention of restrictions may affect the number of spectators entering the Olympic venues.

According to a report by the Japanese national broadcaster NHK, the leader of one of Japan’s ruling parties stated that organizers should consider hosting the Olympics without spectators.

“I hope they make a decision in time and consider the possibility of not allowing spectators to enter the venue,” said Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the Komei Party, a junior partner of the Liberal Democratic Party’s ruling coalition.

Fukushima cancels the plan

The COVID-19 situation also prompted officials in Fukushima Prefecture to cancel plans to demonstrate their recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that caused the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The prefecture will always be synonymous with nuclear disasters and will host baseball and softball games at a stadium about 70 kilometers (41 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power on the Pacific coast.

The county governor said that activities to promote the county’s food and other products, while providing audiences with information about efforts to restore evacuated towns as the area clears the effects of radiation, all activities will be cancelled due to the containment of the virus.

“Given the current situation, we must cancel,” Governor Uchibori said at a press conference in a video on the prefecture’s website. “I will not lie-I hate this new coronavirus.”