Sambo Recognition, Restrictions for the Empress and the Search for an Escaped Weightlifter: How Tokyo Prepares for the Olympic Games

IOC session

On Tuesday in Tokyo, a few days before the start of the Olympic Games, the 138th Session of the IOC kicked off.

One of the most important decisions based on its results was the adoption of six sports in the Olympic family, including sambo.

This pleased many domestic fans, because the self-defense system was developed in the USSR and is still very popular in the country.

The International Federation is now headed by Russian Vasily Shestakov.

“For 11 years, our whole team has been going towards constant recognition from the IOC.

I think this is a great victory not only for us, but for all Russian sports.

Because this is the first Russian species to become Olympic.

And I think that in the near future we will no longer have such people, ”- quotes the words of the“ R-Sport ”functionary.

The verdict was noted in the Kremlin.

Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of President Vladimir Putin, “welcomed” the IOC’s decision and recalled that Russia is the “homeland of SAMBO”.

Many fighters who began their journey in this particular form, for example, Fedor Emelianenko, an honored master of sports in sambo, were also pleased with the historical event.

“I sincerely congratulate the International Federation on full-fledged recognition!

I am very happy for our sport, for all of us sambists, ”Emelianenko wrote on Instagram.

The main topics of the first day of the session were the fight against coronavirus and the absence of spectators in the stands during the competition.

So, IOC President Thomas Bach admitted that he had no idea what difficulties the organizers would have to face due to the transfer of the Olympic Games.

“We didn't have any roadmap, no one ever did that.

We could make such a decision only thanks to the complete mutual trust between the Japanese partners and us, ”explained the head of the committee.

He also disclosed the amount the IOC has invested in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It will amount to $ 1.7 billion.

“We are fulfilling our obligations, we are reinvesting 90% of our profits for the benefit of athletes around the world, which is about $ 5 billion,” Bach added.

Coronavirus situation

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 situation at the Olympic Games continues to deteriorate, although the Games have not even started.

According to the report, on July 20, nine people have already passed positive tests for coronavirus, including one athlete.

His name is not called, but this is the third case in the Olympic village among athletes.

As for the remaining eight cases, one volunteer and seven Japanese citizens associated with the OI became infected.

Against this backdrop, the general director of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, Toshiro Muto, even said that the Olympics could be canceled if it deteriorates.

“We agreed that, based on the situation with the coronavirus, we will convene five-party talks again.

At the moment, the incidence of coronavirus can rise or fall, so let's think about what we should do when such a situation arises, ”quotes Muto Sky Sports.

But the most gloomy prediction was made by Keiji Shibuya, a former director of the Institute of Public Health at King's College London.

According to him, the "bubble" that the organizers are trying to create for the athletes, in fact, has already "burst", as evidenced by an increasing number of patients.

He suggested that a "cluster of infections" would appear in the village, which would be transmitted through contact with local residents.

Moreover, in the country itself, coronavirus restrictions will affect even the monarch's family.

It became known that Emperor Naruhito will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games alone without his wife.

Empress Masako will not be able to attend the event, since the number of participants is strictly limited.

Only VIPs will be able to take a seat in the stands: sponsors, diplomats and members of the IOC.

Naruhito himself, according to Kyodo, will try to avoid the word "celebration" during his speech, which was considered inappropriate due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Discussion of the Olympic Village

Athletes, on the eve of the start of the Games, continue to discuss living conditions in the Olympic village.

Many, to put it mildly, considered them modest.

Perhaps, the first vice-president of the Russian Fencing Federation, Ilgar Mammadov, spoke out the harshest of all, comparing them to "the real Middle Ages."

On Wednesday, Muto answered the domestic functionary.

According to him, the village "should be comfortable first of all."

He also encouraged athletes to continue to voice their opinions on this matter.

Many took advantage of this opportunity with pleasure.

So, handball player Vladlena Bobrovnikova complained about “absolute minimalism”.

She was surprised by the lack of a kitchen, refrigerator and even a TV in the rooms.

“For five of us, we have two combined toilets with a bath, very small.

I know that tall athletes hardly fit.

At breakfast we chatted with tennis player Lena Vesnina - they are, of course, in shock: the guys live in four or five, and they all have one toilet combined with a bathroom.

We have, thank God, at least two for five - there are no queues, ”said Bobrovnikova.

In turn, a karateka from Kazakhstan Sofia Berultseva complained that athletes have no right to get out into the city and can only visit the dining room and gym.

Some of the participants gave up living in the village altogether.

For example, Australian tennis player Ashley Barty did this.

The first racket of the planet has moved to a different location.

However, some people liked the extreme asceticism of the numbers.

For example, the domestic volleyball player Artyom Volvich recalled that at the previous Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the organization was much worse.

At the same time, he explained the low ceilings by the low average height of the Japanese, and called the sensational "anti-sex beds" a joke.

“There is no refrigerator in the room - but this is not a problem at all, and neither is the lack of a kitchen.

Nobody cooks anything here.

And the food in the canteen is absolutely normal, delicious, ”Gazeta.ru quotes the volleyball player.

And the Ukrainian athletes, according to the President of the NOC of the country Serhiy Bubka, were completely impressed by the conditions and satisfied with everything.

Finally, the head of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov was pleasantly surprised by the gym, which he had already “tested” on his own. 

A few days before the start of the Olympic Games, the runaway of the Ugandan weightlifter Julius Sekitoleko also added a headache to the organizers.

On the 19th, he arrived with his national team in Tokyo, but was later unpinned.

This was the last blow for the African, who on the same day fled from the location of the team.

However, on Tuesday, the athlete was found by local police in Yokkaichi, which is located almost 200 km from the Ugandan base.

It turned out that Sekitoleko bought a train ticket by paying in cash, and in the town of Gifu met with one of his compatriots.

The fugitive was easily tracked down by CCTV cameras.

Journalists report that during the arrest he did not resist and gave all the necessary testimony, but he cried without stopping.

In conclusion, one cannot fail to mention the medal forecast of the Gracenot company.

According to the publication, the United States will take the first place with 96 awards based on the results of the Olympic Games.

But the authors of the material put Russia in second place.

According to their assumption, the domestic team will collect a total of 68 medals and will bypass China by only two.

Perhaps such a result of the games will be truly successful.