Former Olympian great Ian Thorpe has issued a warning to all the athletes planning to compete in the Tokyo Olympics taking place later this year. With mounting concerns over the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the former swimmer also said that it is up to the organisers of the event to maintain the safety of the athletes.
Speaking to The Guardian, Thorpe said, "I would most definitely be concerned. What we need to know is to use some of the best expert disease specialists to find out what is the risk to the team. What is the risk to the other nations and how can we have an Olympic Games, one that is safe, that doesn’t put athletes at risk?"
He added, "What you have to understand as well as there are other risks associated with an Olympic Games, the threat of a terrorist event taking place... And we [athletes] take into consideration those things before we decide to compete."
"I think the decision should come down to each athlete. But whether or not they want to compete, that they should take their health into consideration first," he concluded.
India's Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju, on Thursday, said that he expects this year's Olympics to go ahead without any hitch despite the glaring coronavirus threat. "Virus China mein hai, Tokyo mein Nahi (the virus is in China, not Tokyo)," Rijiju said in response to questions about the Games on the sidelines of a workshop to sensitise Indian athletes about Japanese etiquette and culture here.
Rijiju said the current situation demands that nations come together to fight the crisis. "We have to fight every situation together. I expect Tokyo Olympics to start July 24 on time and go ahead smoothly," he said.
"World is a community, we have to support each other," he added.
The Olympic Games are scheduled to be held in July-August this year but a senior IOC member Dick Pound has said that the event might have to be cancelled if the deadly coronavirus outbreak is not brought under control by May.
The coronavirus, which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has so far claimed over 2,500 lives.
