After all the ups and downs, it looked forward to igniting the light at the end of the tunnel

"The Olympic Games have always carried a meaning, a symbol of world unity. When we walked out of this 'tunnel' at the Tokyo Olympics, it carried more meaning, not only representing unity, but also human indomitability. It will lead people back to social life and make people understand each other better. Billions of people around the world will share this happiness. On January 28, 2021, IOC President Bach said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency.

The Olympic flame is the light at the end of a dark tunnel – a phrase that inspires sportsmen.

The ups and downs of the Tokyo Olympics are about to begin. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the first Olympic Games in history to be postponed, and most of the competitions have had to be held behind closed doors. The hosts and the IOC face a great test.

"The Government of Japan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, together with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee, have overcome difficulties and strived to provide the world with safe, secure and wonderful Olympic Games, so that athletes from all over the world can show themselves on the Olympic stage and pursue their dreams." China will, as always, provide support to the success of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou recently delivered a written speech expressing China's support for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

At present, the Chinese Legion is working hard and practicing hard. The Chinese sailing and windsurfing team arrived at Tokyo's Narita Airport from Beijing on July 10, becoming the first Chinese athletes to arrive in Tokyo.

Tightening + hot weather

There are many difficult problems in this Olympic Games

The Tokyo Organising Committee recently announced that baseball and softball matches held in Fukushima and soccer matches held in Sapporo will be closed to spectators, so that only two Olympic games are allowed to be watched, track cycling and soccer, and only three venues are left.

The Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee issued a statement on the same day, saying that the Fukushima Prefectural Government informed the Olympic Organizing Committee the day before that considering the epidemic situation in Japan and taking into account the epidemic prevention measures taken by other regions, they have decided that all Olympic events held in Fukushima Prefecture will not allow spectators to enter. The Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games could only "regretfully" accept Fukushima Prefecture's decision.

In addition, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said that the Olympic football match held at the Sapporo Dome Stadium will also be held behind closed doors.

The Tokyo Organising Committee also confirmed that football matches held in Miyagi and Ibaraki prefectures, and track cycling competitions held in Shizuoka Prefecture will still allow spectators to enter. This means that there are only 3 venues left for the Tokyo Olympics to allow live spectators. Only students are allowed to enter soccer tournaments in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The Tokyo Organising Committee also asked the public not to visit races held on public roads, such as marathons and walking races held in Sapporo, road bike races and mountain bike races held in Shizuoka Prefecture.

On July 8, the IOC and the Japanese side reached an agreement that competitions in the Tokyo area and all venues in the surrounding three prefectures of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa would be held behind closed doors. This decision means that the most important opening and closing ceremonies, athletics competitions, swimming, gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, badminton, judo, boxing, weightlifting, table tennis and other important competitions of the Tokyo Olympic Games can only be held behind closed doors.

Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Chairman Seiko Hashimoto told reporters after the meeting that this was a "helpless choice." She also said: "We are very sorry that we can only host a limited Olympic Games, but we want to ensure that we first hold a safe and secure Olympic Games, so that people around the world can find the Olympic feeling." ”

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on the same day that due to the escalation of the new crown epidemic in Tokyo, especially the recent increase in the number of cases of Delta variant infection, in order to prevent the further spread of the epidemic, it was necessary to declare the capital to enter a state of emergency for the fourth time, from July 12 to August 22, just to cover the Olympic Games.

According to the Japan Broadcasting Association reported on the 11th, the cities of Yokohama and Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture have notified volunteers to cancel their task as city guides. The city of Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture plan to have volunteers who were originally prepared to serve as guides during the Paralympic Games or assist in promoting tourism online. The Saitama Prefectural Government is preparing to assign new tasks to volunteers, but has not yet announced the specifics.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics also faced another problem: extreme heat.

Agence France-Presse quoted Ozaki Yoshio, president of the Tokyo Metropolitan Medical Association, as saying on the 12th that even before the outbreak of the epidemic, holding sports events in Tokyo in July and August was a "serious problem". Fearing heat stroke for athletes, the Tokyo Olympic Marathon and Race Walking events were held in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in a relatively cool area. However, athletes in triathlons, beach volleyball and other sports still have a higher risk of heat stroke.

Japan's weather forecast agency expects temperatures in Tokyo to be higher than previous averages in July and August. A report released in May by the Uk's Sustainable Sports Association noted that "sweltering heat and high humidity" pose a threat to athletes at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

In the report, Ben Bright, head coach of the British Triathlon League, said that even a slight increase in temperature would "have a significant impact on the safety of the event".

Active preparation + strengthening epidemic prevention Chinese athletes have high ambitions

When meeting with Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Chairman Seiko Hashimoto on the 12th, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou expressed China's support for the Tokyo Olympic Games and hoped that the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee would ensure the smooth and safe participation of Chinese Olympic athletes.

The Chinese Embassy in Japan revealed on its official website that the meeting was held at the headquarters of the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, and Kong Xuanyou said during the meeting that China and Japan have reached an important consensus on mutual support for hosting the Olympic Games, and as a member of the Olympic family, the Chinese side actively supports Japan in hosting the Tokyo Olympic Games and is willing to continue to provide assistance within its capabilities. The Chinese side will send a strong sports delegation to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games, hoping that the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee will ensure the smooth and safe participation of Chinese Olympic athletes.

As the first Chinese Olympic team to arrive in Tokyo, Japan, the Chinese sailing and windsurfing team began pre-race preparations on the 11th, and is communicating with the organizers to solve the problem of epidemic prevention loopholes in the hotel.

According to Zhang Xiaodong, chairman of the China Sailing and Windsurfing Association, who arrived in Japan with the team, they entered Japan very smoothly on the 10th, and the materials transported to the arena by sea in advance were also in good condition. As the training waters are not yet open, the team is currently preparing equipment, and the launch training will begin on the 15th.

Since this was the time during the epidemic, the Chinese team reduced the number of support staff, and in order to allow the athletes to rest as much as possible, the coaches braved the scorching sun by the sea to carry and install enough equipment to fill two container containers. Zhang Xiaodong praised the coaches: "Very versatile, especially hard. ”

In terms of epidemic prevention, Zhang Xiaodong said that the team has strict requirements. But she pointed out that the event hotel has loopholes in the lack of closed accommodation areas, and overseas athletes and other tourists live in mixed quarters. "In response to this problem, we are consulting with the organizing committee. At present, the Chinese team lives alone on the first floor, but the mixed tourists in the hotel are definitely a hidden danger. ”

As the venue for the sailing and windsurfing competition is far from the Tokyo Olympic Village, the team stayed at the designated Olympic hotel near the venue.

According to the team doctor in charge of epidemic prevention of the Chinese sailing and windsurfing team, the masks, disinfectants, goggles and other materials carried by the team are sufficient. The team has also made plans for eating, living, traveling, and contacting other people while in Japan.

All national teams are also actively integrating preparation resources, organizing nationwide training and training, and carrying out various forms of competition activities. At the same time, in order to alleviate the anxiety and irritability that athletes are prone to long-term training, each team also adjusts in the form of collective rest and dispersed rest.

In May, the Chinese table tennis team held a mock tournament, and the International Table Tennis Federation and TV Tokyo came to broadcast the signal, and the national table tennis team readily agreed. "We dare to broadcast live on television, that is, we dare to let all our opponents study." Liu Guoliang, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, said.

In the 5 gold medals of the table tennis event of the Tokyo Olympic Games, Liu Guoliang modestly proposed "three fights and four fights for five", but the pride of the ace master is not diminished: "There must be a morale like 'only the Chinese team can defeat the Chinese team'!" ”

The Chinese gymnastics team aims to fight a turnaround battle. Miao Zhongyi, director of the Gymnastics Management Center of the State General Administration of Sports, expressed satisfaction with the state of the team members: "With such a team going to the Tokyo Olympic Games, even if it encounters great difficulties and challenges, I think we can all face, struggle, and shine the sword." ”

"Training is for the sake of fighting, fighting is also about winning, in order to stand on the highest podium." Women's volleyball player Zhu Ting is highly ambitious.

Chinese athletes look forward to working with athletes from all over the world to achieve faster, higher and stronger, and work together to break through the darkness!

More than 10,000 inspections + new technologies on the line Clean start to compete

As the Tokyo Olympics approach, anti-doping preparations, which have been intensely conducted behind the scenes, complete phased work. Chen Zhiyu, director of the Anti-Doping Center of the State General Administration of Sport, said that anti-doping work in preparation for the Olympic Games is the top priority and top priority of the center, and the construction, inspection, testing and education of risk prevention and control systems are carried out at the same time, and new inspection technologies are also unveiled.

Chen Zhiyu said that the normalization of epidemic prevention and control and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games have brought risks and challenges to the work, and the center has studied and formulated the "Zero Occurrence" Work Plan for Doping in Preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Beijing Winter Olympics on the basis of the previous work plan, issued a series of knowledge manuals and guidelines related to risk prevention and control, provided targeted working methods and practical tools to the national team, and helped establish and improve the national team doping risk prevention and control system. At present, 26 of the 36 national sports project management units of the Summer Olympic Project have set up special anti-doping departments, and units without special departments have also been equipped with full-time personnel.

At the same time as the anti-doping system was being built, the center's education of athletes and support staff who might participate in the Tokyo Olympics was launched more than two years ago. Chen Zhiyu said that at present, the anti-doping education access work of the Tokyo Olympic Games has been completed, covering all the Chinese delegations participating in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Doping testing is another important task of the Centre. Chen Zhiyu revealed that in 2020, a large number of national teams went overseas for training and competition, and the center entrusted overseas inspection agencies to monitor and inspect the athletes preparing for the competition. The number of overseas inspections reached 657 in the first quarter, an increase of 115% over the number of all-round 2019. In 2020, a total of 1049 batches of inspectors and 2635 person-times were dispatched, and the inspection areas were all over the country, and no athletes and inspectors were infected with the new crown virus due to doping, which realized the "zero transmission and zero infection" of the inspection process and ensured the smooth development of the preparation for inspection.

According to the center' data, as of July 4, 2021, 15,571 inspections have been carried out since November 2018 for national team athletes preparing for the Tokyo Olympics. Chen Zhiyu said that through the whole process, high density, high quality, unprecedented and strictest inspection, to ensure that the national team preparation for the whole cycle of clean.

He said that the center will check the results of the preliminary inspection and the last inspection of the athletes of the Tokyo Olympic delegation, review and confirm the inspection results of all the athletes of the delegation, and ensure that the athletes of the Chinese delegation will start to participate in the competition cleanly. Once the athletes of the delegation are suspected of doping violations, the work of the relevant athlete auxiliary personnel will be suspended immediately, the investigation will be carried out in depth, and the relevant responsible personnel will be seriously dealt with in accordance with laws and regulations.

In addition, the Centre has made welcome progress on the latest dry blood spot testing program. Developed by the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and five national anti-doping agencies, including China, the dried blood point technology takes extremely small finger blood samples to detect whether an athlete has used a banned substance, and is characterized by its rapid, simple, economical and easy storage and transportation.

On June 11, 2021, China officially launched the dry blood point doping test, becoming one of the first countries in the world to carry out dry blood point testing. Up to now, the center has carried out more than 400 dry blood point examinations for athletes preparing for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

(Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency)

Source: Zhejiang Daily