Tokyo Olympics 2021: No Hugs or Handshakes But 150,000 Condoms Will be Given Out – Organizers Issue Strict Guidelines For Athletes During Summer Games

The athletes are also advised to wear masks at all times except when they are competing, training, eating, sleeping or outside in open space.

The athletes set to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – which got postponed by one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic have to carefully read the 33-page rulebook released by organisers ahead of the quadrennial event. The competing athletes could be kicked out of their respective events if they break strict anti-virus rules. No socialising, no handshakes and no hugs – that’s what athletes at the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo Olympics can expect this summer. The 33-page document — the last in a series of ‘playbooks’ drawn up in a bid to ensure the Games can go ahead safely.

As per the guidelines, athletes will be tested for the virus at least once every four days. They will be barred from competing if they return a confirmed positive test. Their time in Japan will be ‘minimized to reduce the risk of infection,’ and those staying at the Olympic Village will be expected to “avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact.”

The Tokyo Games Organizers was quoted by AFP that they still plan to hand out around 150,000 free condoms to athletes, but the new rulebook urges them to ‘limit your contact with other people as much as possible’.

“If you have been to the Games before, we know this experience will be different in a number of ways,” the guidebook warns. “For all Games participants, there will be some conditions and constraints that will require your flexibility and understanding,”

The guide for athletes and team officials is set to be revised in April and again in June, and follows the release of handbooks for sports officials, media and broadcasters last week.

Athletes won’t be required to be vaccinated or to quarantine upon arrival in Tokyo, but they are required to test negative for the COVID-19 before getting on a flight to Japan, according to the playbook.

There will be no quarantine for athletes, and they will still be allowed to attend training camps in Japan before the Games begin, but all movements must be rigorously logged and the use of public transport is subject to permission.

Athletes ‘must not visit gyms, tourist areas, shops, restaurants or bars’ and can only go to “official Games venues and limited additional locations”.

They are also advised to wear masks at all times except when they are competing, training, eating, sleeping or outside in open space.

The virus rulebooks are being released as organizers, Olympic officials and Japan’s government works to build confidence that the Games can go ahead safely despite a surge in infections globally.

The rollout of the virus rules has been overshadowed by a row over sexist comments made by Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori, who faces calls to resign after claiming women speak too much in meetings.

The Tokyo Olympics are due to open on July 23.

(With Agency Inputs)