Tokyo 2021: Guinea reconsiders its decision not to participate
The last day before the start of the Olympics, the 5 Guinean athletes selected for the Olympics learned that they could finally participate in the Olympics.
Charly TRIBALLEAU AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Guinea, which is to send a small delegation of five athletes to the Tokyo Olympics, announced this Thursday, July 22 that it would finally participate in the tournament, after having announced the day before to give it up because of the Covid-19.
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"
The government, after obtaining guarantees from the health authorities, gives its agreement for the participation of our athletes in the 32nd Tokyo Olympiad
," Guinean Minister of Sports Sanoussy Bantama Sow announced in a statement. On Wednesday, he had instead announced the cancellation of his participation in the Games, "
because of the upsurge in variants of Covid-19
" and his concern "
to preserve the health of Guinean athletes
".
This Thursday, the minister ruled out any financial problem linked to Guinea's non-participation.
According to an AFP source, close to the government, "
the file had been overcharged
", which was a reason for the cancellation.
“
We don't dare to overcharge.
Only 19 people will be part of
(the)
delegation that will be led by me
, ”insisted Minister Sow.
Guinea will compete in the Olympics in four disciplines: freestyle wrestling, judo, swimming and athletics.
In 11 participations in the Olympics, Guinea has so far not brought back any medals.
But in this competition more than in any other, the main thing is to participate.
► To read also: Tokyo 2021: Guinea gives up the Olympic Games because of the variants of Covid-19
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