(ATR) Sport in Latin America will not throw in the towel, despite the economic storm that is looming over the region.
In the run-up to the 136th Session of the International Olympic Committee, historical for its videoconference format on July 17, there are a few people who are concerned about the preparation conditions of Latin American athletes.
One year after the postponed Tokyo Olympics, consulted analysts point at the disadvantages of athletes in the region, with respect to the rest of the world, at a time when Latin America has become the epicenter of the multi-systemic and unknown disease.
On the other hand, "special" requests for understanding toward American Olympic committees might be needed for their athletes to fulfill their training plans in Europe, as the postponed Tokyo Olympics approach.
The European Union has banned visitors from countries with significant numbers of infections and deaths from COVID-19.
Since February, Japan has strengthened travel restrictions for visitors as part of its border control measures with an entry ban list that increased to 129 countries and regions, including several American nations.
Numerous Olympic committees from the Americas have agreed with various municipalities in Japan, before the pandemic, on preparation camps, weeks before the 2020 Olympics. The program is equally peppered with current uncertainty.
But despite the austerity policies on the horizon, governments are confident that they will lend a hand and the timetable for the various regional games in the Olympic triennium cycle can be fulfilled after some have undergone an inescapable date change.
From this perspective are the first Junior Pan-American Games in Cali (moved to September 2021), the Sucre 2021 Junior Bolivian Games, the 2022 South American Games in Asuncion, the Panama 2022 Central American and Caribbean Games, the Valledupar 2022 Bolivian Games, and the Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile in 2023.
Amid the pandemic, Panama has animated its optimism and announced this Monday the winning mascot of the Games, the blue frog "Parita", after a public contest. Guillermo Mann, the creator of Parita, took an economic prize of $3,500.
Panama is currently the country with the highest number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 in Central America.
Governments, in coordination with health authorities and Olympic committees, are gradually starting to authorize the return of athletes to gyms and courts.
This Monday, Chile announced that professional soccer clubs and top-level athletes can resume their training, after they were restricted, as a prevention measure against the pandemic.
Local soccer has been suspended since March.
After the quarantine decreed about half of the country’s population, health authorities have granted certain special permits so that essential activities can continue to operate in Chile.
In the case of high performance athletes, the special permit will benefit 250 athletes from different disciplines, who are classified or have the possibility of going to the Olympic or Paralympic Games, as well as what must be faced by the Olympic cycle events and their coaches.
The host generation of the Santiago 2023 Pan-American Games will start to warm up the muscles.
Chile has more than 317,000 cases and more than 7,000 deaths due to the pandemic.
Written by Miguel Hernandez. For general comments or questions,click here.
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