Wednesday 14 October 2020

From: Ian Chesterman - Chef de Mission, Tokyo 2020 Australian Olympic Team

RE: October 2020 - Update from Ian Chesterman

To: Personalised to each Athlete

As promised, I’m coming back to you with an update following on from the Chefs De Mission Webinar that took place Monday night (October 12) with all 206 countries attending the Tokyo Olympic Games.

We were addressed by IOC President Thomas Bach and Chair of the Tokyo Organising Committee (TOCOG), former Prime Minister Mori, as well as a number of leading IOC and TOCOG experts and leaders.

The clear message from all is that there is a continued deep commitment to making the Games happen no matter what the environment is with COVID, and whether a vaccine exists or not.

That commitment is matched by a commitment to the safety of all involved with the Games, including, of course, members of all national teams.

COVID planning

Japanese authorities, the IOC and the World Health Organisation (WHO) continue to develop plans for COVID countermeasures at the Game.

As we expected we won’t find out any real details until December as to what this will look like come July 2021, but every time an update is presented I am encouraged by their transparency and progression with planning.

They are now building responses to all aspects of making the Games possible in a COVID world around four scenarios.

“In our hands” – better case, where things are largely under control and a vaccine exists

“Learning to live with it” – the base case – details below

“All eyes on Japan” – worse case around COVID issues in Japan itself

“Global disparity” – another worse case with Global issues

The view of the organisers is that “Learning to live with it” is most likely to materialise and will be the primary focus going forward. This scenario is based on:

•   Global health status is characterised by a general plateau in new case numbers
Localised “Clusters” in certain hotspots.
•   A vaccine is available, but access is limited to the clinically vulnerable.
•   Social distancing and hygiene requirements remain in place globally.
•   Travel restrictions are generally relaxed but can be re-imposed for areas with hotspots.
•   Economic slump in 2020 followed by moderate recovery in 2021.
•   Public confidence around mass gatherings grows as major sporting events have been successfully held from late 2020 onwards, under strict hygiene restrictions and with reduced numbers of spectators.

The countermeasures are being developed around six pillars:

•   Travel and Country entry
•   Physical distancing
•   Personal Protection Equipment and cleaning
•   Test/track/isolate
•   Vaccines
•   Information provision – education

A key aspect of this really is No 6, education. A great deal of personal responsibility will fall to all participants, and the organisers, and the AOC, will be heavily promoting the need for us all to look after each other.

What was constantly emphasised at the Chefs webinar is the enormous amount of work going into these plans. While they don’t have all the answers yet the IOC and TOCOG are understanding that everyone is looking for certainty. But to achieve the best outcomes they need time to fully explore the options and to better understand what the world might look like in 2021.

Decisions on spectators, ticketing, family and friends all fall into that category for now.

What is clear is that all scenarios will require us to wear masks at the Games. When and where they will be required has yet to be determined. We have anticipated this need and are talking to the AIS to ensure we have a high-tech mask available to suit the conditions. We will always respond to any such measure in a way that fits with our priority to create a high performance environment.

The AOC will supply the masks as designs and marking must be approved by the IOC, like all our uniform pieces.

As I wrote last time, there will be requirements for testing pre-departure and on arrival, and again during the Games. Movement in and around Tokyo and the time spent in the Village post-competition will likely be restricted. We will also likely need to agree to use a App specifically developed by TOCOG to track contacts etc.

But the details are not yet available and, as the organisers say, the key is to find the best moment to make a decision. The IOC and Tokyo organisers still have time on their side and have advised we will find out more in December.

Qualification

The IOC is well aware of the difficulty some sports are facing to conduct qualifying events and the issue of athletes being unable to attend qualifying events because of the Government imposed travel restrictions of the host nation, their own nation, or both.

To address this, the IOC has formed a special working group, headed by Dr Robin Mitchell from Fiji, representing the National Olympic Committees, IOC Athlete Commission Chair Kirsty Coventry, and Nenad Lalovic, IF representative. Dr Mitchell is a long-time administrator from the OCEANIA region and well known to the AOC. He understands well the particular issues from our region where most countries are in a hard lockdown.

The IOC has made it very clear that they will work with the International Federations to adjust the qualifying criteria as required. The AOC has been proactive in raising this issue with the IOC and encouraging your National Federations to lobby their respective International Federations as well, to make sure Australians are not disadvantaged and the integrity of qualification remains.

Number of support staff

The Chefs meeting also confirmed that while the organisers will look to reduced personnel in some stakeholder groups (media, sponsors, workforce) by 10-15 per cent, this will not apply to national teams. So, we can continue to plan with a full allocation of support staff.

Opening and Closing Ceremonies

Planning for an Opening and Closing Ceremony continues.

We were reminded last night that National Olympic Committees will be able to name two flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony on July 23 – one female and one male. I think this is an excellent outcome.

Australia has only once before had two flagbearers, at the 1980 Moscow Games, when Denise Boyd and Max Metzker led the team in.

I now have the difficult task of selecting two flagbearers for Tokyo. It’s a good problem to have!

Stay safe.

#TokyoTogether

Ian Chesterman
Chef de Mission

If you were unable to view the session live it can be found HERE

Tuesday 29 September 2020

From: Ian Chesterman - Chef de Mission, Tokyo 2020 Australian Olympic Team

RE: September 2020 - Update from Ian Chesterman

To: Personalised to each Athlete

I hope that this finds you fit and well. For our friends in Victoria, I hope you see the light at the end of the tunnel. Overall, we are in great shape in Australia and very fortunate when you look around the world.

I thought that it was time for me to give you an update as there has been quite a bit of media coverage recently following the latest IOC Coordination Commission meeting in Tokyo which talked about the enormous amount of work going into reorganising the postponed Games for 2021.

I expect that we will find out more at our Chef de Mission’s meeting on October 12 and then, indications are that more details about the COVID response plan will be revealed in late December or early 2021.

Here’s what we do know.

Commitment to holding the Games
All key parties responsible for putting on the Games – the IOC, the Japanese Government, the Tokyo Municipal Government and the Tokyo Organising Committee (TOCOG) remain fully committed to the Games starting on July 23 next year. Their joint commitment is “to prioritize the health and safety of athletes, spectators, stakeholders, volunteers and staff.”

Each continues to allocate all the necessary resources – time, effort and money - to make sure that this happens. The commitment is unwavering. The new Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, has also said his Government is “determined” to host the Games and will “spare no effort in order to welcome you to a Games that are safe and secure.”

Simplification measures
The “simplification” of the Games that has been talked about, is taking shape. The IOC and TOCOG have agreed to 52 savings, but at the time of writing, most of the details have yet to be released.

We know that Team Welcome ceremonies will not be held, but we had already decided not to participate due to our concerns over being outdoors in the heat in the middle of the day.

Some user groups will see “officials” accreditations reduced by 10-15 per cent. Athlete numbers will, however, be maintained and the sports program will be implemented in full. What impact this will have on NOC accreditations, and for our sports and support team, is yet to be understood, but I am sure it will be clarified at the Chefs seminar in a few weeks.

The AOC’s commitment to providing the best performance environment stands.

When the details of the 52 measures are known, and the impact on our planning understood, we will share them with you.

COVID countermeasures
The Japanese authorities – the National Government, Tokyo Government and TOCOG – are actively addressing how the Games can be run even where COVID is still present globally and no vaccine exists or is available to athletes.

That said, the IOC, who work closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO), continues to be positive that a vaccine could be available, but as IOC President Bach recently wrote that will not be a “silver bullet” and that a COVID strategy will still be required. Rapid testing will also play an important part in managing the Games operations.

Right now, and through to November 2020, the Tokyo Organising Committee/Tokyo Government and Federal Government Taskforce are meeting to discuss a framework of countermeasures for athletes, officials and spectators.

The plan will apply to border control, arrivals and departures, all transportation, venues (training and competition) and the Olympic Village. Stakeholder planning and municipalities involved in the Tokyo Games, spectators and crowd participation will also be covered.

The fine detail of measures to protect athletes and officials will very much depend on the situation in Japan next year, and conditions around the world. We do know that they are looking at a range of scenarios across seven different areas:

Travel/country access
Physical distancing
Personal protective equipment/cleaning
Food and beverage
Testing/tracking/isolating
Information provision
Vaccines

There is much speculation in the Japanese and other media about countermeasures from these meetings. The AOC does not expect any official communication about countermeasures until these series of meetings is complete with an indication that may be December 2020 at the earliest.

However, what we do expect is that accreditation will provide the necessary visa to enter Japan, no matter what the arrangements are for others, and that all participants will need to be tested prior to their departure for Japan, then again on arrival.

The expectation is that a RAPID test, already advanced, will provide a relatively smooth experience through this process. From this point we move into the unknown, but it could see our Teams being transported to the Villages which, along with training and competition venues, may be maintained as a bio-bubble.

Other movement could be extremely limited, or not permitted at all. We are yet to hear also on arrangements for those living outside of the Villages.

This is consistent with our advice that the Tokyo Olympics will be different, but it is what makes us confident that the Games will go ahead.

When we are informed by the authorities about what the actual measures will be, we will apply them to our planning and inform our sports and again write to you all.

Project Wagasa
The AOC has a total commitment to ensure the safe arrival and departure of our Team. Besides any requirements by our Japanese hosts, the AOC knows each of its team members must arrive “COVID clean” in Tokyo, and then be safely transported home.

Everyone should be working on the basis that you will need to return straight after your competition or commitments finish. Let’s hope the world will be in a better place where that might not be an absolute necessity, but I think it’s best that becomes our new base line.

To oversee the issues pre-Games and post-Games, the AOC has created a project team dedicated to working with sports to meet the many challenges athletes face in attending qualifying events, competing in events globally and attending pre-games training.

This “Project Wagasa” team is liaising with Federal Government agencies including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Border Force and Home Affairs – as well as state governments and bio-security experts.

“Wagasa” means umbrella in Japanese – so it’s an umbrella plan to cover all these challenges between now and the Games.

Sports will continue to have responsibility for preparing athletes in the pre-Games period, the liaison and advice from the Project Wagasa team will help them negotiate the complexities each sport will face and provide a safety net to all that proper processes and protocols are in place to get you to the Games fit and healthy.

Project Wagasa has four phases:

Qualifying events, test events and training
Pre-Games training camps
Assembling the Australian Olympic Team
Returning Home

Again, there are a number of decisions that can’t be made until next year given we don’t know what the world will look like, nor do we think we will be officially informed what countermeasures will be adopted by Tokyo 2020 towards the end of 2020 if not early 2021.

But there’s an enormous amount of work being done right now to deal with the current complications so many sports and athletes are facing.

We have done, and will continue to do, a lot of work to get a picture of where athletes need to be in the months ahead and what it takes to ensure we, with our member sports, can deliver, prepare and return the Team to the Tokyo Games.

We understand that many athletes and sports still need to qualify and we are working with the National Federations and the Australian Government authorities to facilitate this.

What, if any, quarantine is required on returning to Australia, or any other country, will depend on Government requirements at that time. In the case of our own situation in Australia, it is too early to know what will be required, but we have developed good channels of communication with all relevant Government authorities. Please do not expect any exemptions from the rules that apply to all at that time.

Commitment to safety
IOC President Bach recently reiterated that the safety of all participants at the Games is paramount – every athlete and official needs to know that their safety and wellbeing will drive all decisions.

The AOC is in complete agreement with this principle and will also have the safety of athletes as its priority when planning for the Team to arrive and depart from the Tokyo Games through the important work of the Project Wagasa team.

These are not just words. This is very much our commitment.

The rest
Of course, there are many questions for which we have no answers. Will there be spectators, what will the Opening and Closing Ceremony look like, what about family and friends etc.

When we do have answers, we will share that information.

But in these most challenging of times we are fortunate to have the unwavering commitment of all responsible parties to keep the Olympic dream alive for this generation of athletes.

Our Olympian Services Manager Dan Kowalski and his team have an online forum planned for 12:30 pm (AEDST) on Tuesday October 13 following the Chef de Mission’s Seminar the evening before.

Our CEO Matt Carroll and I will be available to take your questions at that forum.

We will also be writing to you all again after that with an update on any further clarifications.

Stay safe.

#TokyoTogether

Ian Chesterman
Chef de Mission, Tokyo 2020

COVID-19 Updates