One of the first Olympic leaders to press for the postponement of the Tokyo Games was Alejandro Blanco (Orense, 1950), facing the initial containment of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), eager to win an impossible time until world sport said do not. Not only was the coronavirus, this time, ahead of the Olympism, but also events, since it was Japan that advanced the expected news, two days after the organism had given itself four weeks. The crisis surpassed the IOC.

The facts have finally proved him right. The pandemic forced a change, because we see that the coronavirus spreads throughout the world and we observe the restrictive measures that are taken in the countries. An impossible scenario for an event of the magnitude of the Games. Deferring them and bringing them to 2021 has been the right thing to do. The decision is positive for several reasons. The first is that we will have Games, because they are not canceled. The second is that health prevails. The third is that it eliminates inequality between athletes. Now you just have to look for the date. That implies many more. For example, federations that had fixed their World Cups. What hypothesis does the IOC work with? It wants them to be before summer, in spring, is what has been discussed. We will know soon, but for now the important thing is that all the federations have shown a great willingness to mold their calendars, because there is a gap to make the Games fit, but you also have to talk to the organizers, the televisions, the sector hotelier ... Not easy. But this does not only happen to the Games or sport, because we see great economic, cultural or festive events that change their dates every day. Could we find a 2021 in which we had Athletics and Swimming Games and World Cups, as they are scheduled right now? I don't doubt. I think there will be Olympic Games and great World Cups in the same year. Moving the date is changing, not canceling championships. The federations are going to try to do them, because they are basic to their existence and economy, since they have their television rights negotiated and their sponsors contracted. Thinking of an IOC compensation system is not feasible. For this reason, I am sure that 2021 will be the most intense sports year in the entire history of sport. The decision has given tranquility to the Spanish athletes, they needed it. Now they will be able to prepare the Games with a lot of time and with the same means that they have had until now. The ADO program was committed for a few dates with the companies. Will the contributions continue for another year? I have spoken with the Secretary of State [Irene Lozano] and we totally agree and are convinced that no athlete will no longer have the help they have had to prepare for the Games. All the parties involved are committed to it, but war budgets are supposed to come that could also affect the money that goes to sports. The government has just approved a game of 50 million for the federations, which, in these circumstances I think it shows very well what the commitment of the Prime Minister [Pedro Sánchez] is. The federations were to make elections in the Olympic year. Presumably everything is extended one more? I do not know what the Higher Sports Council will decide, which is the one that regulates it. National Olympic committees do them in the first half of the post-Olympic year, but now we have to see what the IOC says. The normal thing is that they are postponed, although that is the least of it. You had said that you would not appear, that you closed your cycle in Tokyo. Can this emergency situation change it? Now the important thing is not that. We will see later. It is not something that worries me. With the Games the greatest wall of sport falls. Do you think we will see sports competitions before the new season? One thing is national competitions and another is international. I think that when we return to normal life, they will return, although we will have to see how, perhaps behind closed doors. We have to wait, but I am optimistic, at least regarding the nationals. His wife is a doctor and tested positive for coronavirus. How have you lived through this crisis? In solidarity with the decisions of the Government, staying at home, teleworking, in contact with athletes, with the IOC and with the federations. In my case, I have had no symptoms. It changes the way of working, but not the work.

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  • Irene Lozano
  • Japan
  • Pedro Sánchez
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