Tokyo Olympic athletes face tracking apps if virus persists, says task force

Tokyo Olympic athletes could face stringent directions on transportation and repeated coronavirus tests under measures discussed Wednesday by a task force charged with finding ways to safely organize the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games.

With less than a year till the Olympics, organizers and Japanese executives met for the second time with a long listing of potential demands on the agenda.

   

Players may have to offer a detailed plan of their activities in advance — and vow to follow it — or save their location on a “map app”, according to documents provided for the meeting.

They may also be required to undergo regular coronavirus examination — including three days before leaving home, another on arrival, and others during their stay in Japan.

They will, however, be allowed to train during any quarantine.

“Tests are one of the most important issues from the two perspectives of securing safety and a sense of security for athletes,” Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshiro Muto said a press conference.

“We’d like to create a system, or mechanism, to continue testing when they enter Japan.”

But, Muto told, assuring the authenticity of pre-departure testing in every nation — and ensuring the correctness even of high-precision PCR tests — will be a challenge.