MO FARAH BELIEVES the Olympic Games will go ahead this summer and says athletes have been told they will receive vaccinations against Covid-19.
Farah, who has won 5,000 and 10,000 metres gold at each of the last two Games in London and Rio, has previously said he is targeting success in the longer distance only in Tokyo.
However, the Games are again under threat from the coronavirus pandemic, which were originally postponed by 12 months in March last year.
The idea of vaccinating athletes has been floated by International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound, and Farah told talkSPORT: “I think most people in a career want to go to an Olympics and take part in an Olympics.
“The key thing is to stay safe and see what the country can do. What they have said to us is basically everyone will be able to get Covid injections and after that it’s less risk of spreading the disease, and then from there just see what happens and take one day at a time.
“I think (the Games) will go ahead but at the same time, for me I have had the experience of taking part in three Olympics and I have to see it as another race and see what happens.”
IOC president Thomas Bach has previously said there is “no reason whatsoever” to further delay the Games, which are due to start on 23 July.
Meanwhile, Florida’s chief financial officer has told the IOC that the state would be happy to host the Olympics Games amid speculation that current hosts Japan may back out.
Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to Bach “to encourage you to consider relocating the 2021 Olympics from Tokyo, Japan to the United States of America, and more specifically to Florida.”
“With media reports of leaders in Japan ‘privately’ concluding that they are too concerned about the pandemic for the 2021 Olympics to take place, there is still time to deploy a site selection team to Florida,” he said.
The letter, signed by Patronis and posted online, cited the supposed strength of state’s vaccination roll-out, its economic re-opening and sports events it has hosted during the pandemic, as well as the fact that its theme parks, including Disney World, are open for business.
But Florida has struggled badly in the coronavirus pandemic, with over 25,000 deaths so far in the state as the US death toll nears 420,000.
“Whatever precautions are required let’s figure it out and get it done,” Patronis said.
Last Friday, parties responsible for organising the Tokyo games — scheduled for last year but delayed for a year because of the global health crisis — insisted they would be sticking to the planned dates.
“I am determined to realise a safe and secure Tokyo Games as proof that mankind will have overcome the virus,” said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
With additional reporting from AFP
