International Gymnastics Tournament Held in Tokyo Kohei Uchimura and other athletes from four countries participated November 8th, 19:33
After the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the first international gymnastics competition in Japan was held in Tokyo on the 8th, and athletes from four countries, including Kohei Uchimura, performed in front of the spectators. Did.
After the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the international sports competitions scheduled in Japan continued to be canceled or postponed, but in the Olympic Games, the first international sports competition in Japan after the spread of the infection was 8 It was held at Yoyogi Daiichi Gymnasium in Tokyo on Sunday.
Looking ahead to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the tournament will be held while attention is being paid to whether it will be a role model in terms of athletes' entry into the country and measures against infection. You have to participate.
Audiences entered the venue with a limited number of people, and at the opening ceremony, Uchimura said, "Athletes have a mission to give everyone dreams and hopes. Although they cannot cheer for infection control, the spectators stand up. I want to act like a kid. "
In the match, male and female players from four countries performed in two teams, and Uchimura also participated in the fourth event.
Of these, "horizontal bar" is a big skill of H difficulty, and succeeded in "Bullet Schneider" which twists twice while turning twice, and after that, he decided all the difficult hand-off techniques and gave a high score of 15.200, and a big applause from the audience. Was sent.
Strong awareness of the Olympics Thorough infection control
This international competition was held in Japan for the first time in the Olympic Games with athletes from overseas after the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
The International Gymnastics Federation, which sponsored the event, was strongly aware of next year's Tokyo Games, and set out to "do not send out infected people. Do not bring viruses into the country." I put a lot of effort into it.
With special permission from the government to minimize the impact on the competition of athletes arriving in Japan, they are exempted from the two weeks of quarantine required to enter Japan, instead 2 before departure in each country. We thoroughly quarantined for about a week and conducted multiple PCR tests.
Japanese athletes also entered the National Training Center in Tokyo more than two weeks before the tournament and held a training camp in isolation.
Athletes, both domestically and internationally, send daily temperature measurements and physical conditions along with the results of PCR tests using apps, etc., and videos of temperature measurements and practice in a safe place to ensure transparency. And obliged to send by image.
Among them, the Chinese athletes who arrived by charter plane three days before the tournament were thoroughly dressed in protective clothing and landed at the airport.
On the other hand, on the 29th of last month, Kohei Uchimura, who was training camp at the National Training Center, was judged to be "positive" by the PCR test, and the people concerned were nervous.
Regarding this, the first PCR test was conducted on the 21st of last month at the beginning of the training camp and it was judged as "negative", and after that, Uchimura had no symptoms such as fever, and it became "positive". The third PCR test performed the next day was analyzed by three medical institutions, and all of them were "negative", and it was finally concluded that they were "false positives".
This was the result of the medical team of the tournament preparing a manual in advance on the premise that "false positives" could occur with a probability of about 1%, and responding accordingly.
Infection control was thoroughly implemented at the hotel.
Athletes entered a dedicated floor and guards were stationed to prevent contact with other guests.
Before breakfast, we performed a PCR test every day, and the athletes did not face each other, faced the same direction and ate while keeping a distance, and when traveling, they did not go out outside the venue using a dedicated bus. ..
At the convention venue, we took measures called "zoning".
In order to avoid contact between the staff and the players in the venue as much as possible, the flow lines were divided, and the staff were classified into four categories, and the area that could be entered was limited for each category.
In addition, since the athletes had to use the same equipment, the equipment was disinfected after each performance, and an air purifier was placed in the athlete's waiting area to ensure thorough ventilation.
The International Gymnastics Federation says, "I intend to take all the measures that I have been asked to do so far. I would be grateful if the knowledge gained at this competition could be put to good use in future large-scale international competitions."
Significance of holding the tournament
The international competition, which had been stopped in Japan due to the influence of the new coronavirus, has begun to move again, and the sports world has taken a big step toward the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, which is less than nine months before the opening.
This international gymnastics competition was held with the participation of athletes from overseas for the first time in the Tokyo Olympic Games since the spread of the virus.
Morinari Watanabe, chairman of the International Gymnastics Federation, said, "If someone does not take the lead in holding an international competition, we will not be able to obtain knowledge for the Olympics." Again, we have achieved both strict infection control and reduction of the burden on athletes.
At the time of the Games, IOC President Bach sent a video message saying, "This is an example of how the Games can be held safely despite the restrictions on infection control. It
is a very important signal for the entire sports world, especially in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. It will be a tournament that will give you confidence in the event, "he emphasized the significance of holding the event with an eye on the Tokyo Games.
On the 10th of this month, a meeting will be held between Chairman Watanabe and Chairman Mori of the Games Organizing Committee, and the key is how to apply the knowledge gained from this Games to the Tokyo Games.