Less than one-third of the Olympics hosting Paralympic athletes | NHK News

Accepting Paralympic athletes' training camp less than one-third of the Olympics August 23, 14:21

Overseas athletes participating in the next year's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will accept pre-camps in “Host Towns” nationwide, but there are 68 cases that are clearly accepted for Paralympic athletes at the planning stage, which is 3 minutes of the Olympics. I found that it stayed below 1. The government considers that many local governments are reluctant to accept that the environment is not barrier-free and seeks understanding.

The Tokyo Olympics will be visited by approximately 11,000 players from 206 countries and regions around the world, and the Paralympic Games will be visited by approximately 4400 players from 182 countries and regions.

As of the end of last month, a total of 348 local governments have registered 348 cases as host towns for accepting pre-camps for these players and conducting exchanges.

When NHK examined the contents of the application, there were 252 host towns that clearly indicated the willingness to accept the pre-camp for the Olympics at the planning stage, while 68 for the Paralympic Games. I found that it stayed below.

The reason for this is that the country is reluctant to accept that it has no barrier-free environment such as public facilities and accommodation facilities and that it is not confident in handling wheelchair users and athletes with disabilities such as visual impairments. The local government is conspicuous.

The Secretariat of the Cabinet Secretariat in charge of the host town said that there may be an increase in acceptance from the application stage, and said, “Even if the facilities are not in place, depending on the type and degree of disability, We need to understand that we can accept it, and we want to ask local governments to understand it by introducing advanced cases. "

Challenges to accommodation and transportation

While accepting camps for Olympic athletes, some municipalities find it difficult to accept Paralympic athletes.

Asahi City, Chiba Prefecture has been working with Dusseldorf City, Germany for eight years, so it was registered as a host town for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. Currently, preparations are being made to accept the pre-camp for the German national team for the Olympics and Table Tennis.

On the other hand, I think it is difficult to accept the Paralympic camp.

To date, Asahi City has held activities to deepen the understanding of people with disabilities, such as holding a parasport experience for children. In addition, the city's general gymnasium is a facility that is accessible for the disabled, such as toilets and shower rooms for the disabled, and steps from the entrance to the practice place.

However, it was judged that it was difficult to accept Paralympic athletes because there were not enough rooms for barrier-free accommodation in the city, and there was anxiety about securing a car to transfer wheelchair athletes to the practice venue. It's called.

Satoshi Ishibashi of Asahi City Sports Promotion Division says, “It is a problem of hardware that accepts players such as accommodation facilities, so we can not actively attract it at present. If hardware is ready, we would like to accept Paralympic athletes as well.” I was talking.

Some local governments can accept Para Camp with a little consideration and ingenuity

Some municipalities have facilities that continue to accept para-athletes with a little ingenuity and consideration, without expensive barrier-free renovations.

The tennis facility in Sakai City, Chiba Prefecture is the representative of Japan for wheelchair tennis and is based in Shingo Kunieda, who has participated in four consecutive Paralympic Games. We prepared a free environment.

For example, if a simple toilet is installed in a general toilet, it will be converted into a toilet for the handicapped enough to accommodate a wheelchair, and if a separate toilet for the disabled is installed, the cost of over 1 million yen will be around 50,000 yen. It's called.

Barrier-free by simple methods such as providing handrails at low positions so that wheelchair users can easily open the door, shaving part of the pillars so as not to obstruct movement, and filling in steps with asphalt Has prepared the environment.

As a result, the British team of wheelchair tennis will have a preliminary training camp for the Tokyo Paralympic Games in Sakai City, and this camp was held in the beginning of this month.

Yoshihiko Yoshida, director of the facility, said, “By changing what we have with a little consideration and ingenuity, we will be able to use the facility comfortably. , I ’ll do my best. ”

In addition, the hotel close to tennis facilities has only one barrier-free room out of 160 rooms, but with a little ingenuity, wheelchair representatives are accepted in ordinary rooms.

Instead of placing the towels in a high place that is out of reach from the wheelchair, we changed the place on the bed and moved the meal to a lower position so that it could be easily removed from the wheelchair at the breakfast buffet.

Mr. Kenji Matsumaru, the general manager of the hotel, said, “I haven't done anything special, but I have taken care of it as a feeling. I think it is hospitality.”

The coach of the British representative said, “I visited various places, but the whole, including barrier-free, was wonderful. The pre-camp was a good opportunity to check the situation one year ago.”