By Juan Carlos Maygua
The countdown to the Olympic & Paralympic games has officially begun for Team USA. In a 3-day event, the different athletes that will represent the United States in Tokyo speak to the press. The Media Summit allows different outlets to interact with each participant in a series of virtual press conferences. I was fortunate enough to participate on the first day of the event and got the chance to witness the commitment the organization has, especially to return home with as many medals as possible.
The United States Olympic & Paralympic committee emphasized the task ahead and how important the coverage of U.S. athletes will be when the events take place. Rick Adams, Chief of sports performance & NGB Services, talked about the importance of having a safe environment for athletes both in the tryout phases and in the facilities in Tokyo. He also mentioned the process of retraining for many of the athletes due to the changes in schedule due to the pandemic. “Many of the teams put their training on hold 12 months ago, we had that break and the retraining with an emphasis on injury prevention”. Adams also praised the Paralympic teams, they have all qualified for Tokyo and will be defending a medal.
The addition of mental health experts for athletes for both the Olympic & Paralympic games reinforces the importance of athlete services. Bahati VanPelt, head of athletic services announced the inclusion of 4 mental health officers to improve the wellbeing of athletes, a change to prior Olympic competitions. He also highlighted new safety checks to ensure a safe space for athletes. Susanne Lyons, Chair and Board of directors, addressed some of the concerns over a possible boycott of the Olympics and Human rights violations in China. “The U.S has many to constructively respond to these concerns, which we believe should be handled by government officials including the department of state and other diplomats. We do not believe that Team USA’s young athletes should be involved with these political issues”.
Rick Adams confirmed a high-performance training center in Tokyo, so athletes have optimal facilities to compete at the highest level. The pandemic and development of vaccines have many speculating if athletes will be mandated to take it. The federation stated that it will not impose the vaccine on any of the U.S athletes or staff members but will encourage it to ensure everyone’s safety. Overall, the system of operations will have “bubble-like” similarities so there are no concerns over possible COVID outbreaks in camp.