As the Paris Games approached, we couldn’t escape how “normal” everything should be. The media hyped the return of cheering spectators to replace empty stadiums, a grand opening ceremony packed with hundreds of thousands of fans, and friends and family arriving to celebrate the athletes’ big victories (and get over tough losses), but the masks were nowhere to be seen.
Overall, Associated Press As I wrote in early July, the Paris Games will be a return to “post-pandemic” and “normalcy” after a period when “host cities became closed shells, depriving those who had made it inside the so-called Olympic ‘bubble’ of a true Olympic experience.”
But as the 2024 Summer Olympics progresses, it’s becoming clear that bursting that bubble may have been premature — and the athletes may be the ones paying the price.
Admittedly, the lack of spectators, family support, and connection to others hasn’t been easy for the athletes. As fencer Kat Holmes tells SELF, the atmosphere was “very restrictive.” “In Rio it was like, ‘We’re all here together, we’re going to get to know each other,'” she says. “In Tokyo it was like, ‘Oh my god, don’t breathe on me.'” So it’s understandable that you want to avoid that. But unfortunately, COVID-19 doesn’t understand that.
The strict rules of Tokyo and Beijing did not simply apply to Paris.
In Tokyo, rules for athletes Was The policy is so strict that the term “no intimate acts” is now used frequently. According to the 70-page report, the reason for the “safety first” policy is: Playbooks Japan’s policy, announced one month before the 2020 Olympics (which will actually be held in 2021), was aimed at protecting all athletes, participants, and the Japanese public from the spread of COVID-19. To that end, the policy details policies such as wearing masks “at all times” (except while sleeping, eating, training, and competing), avoiding the “three Cs” (closed spaces, crowded places, and close contact spaces), regular testing for COVID-19 regardless of whether symptoms are present, and self-isolation if a positive test is tested.
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