But Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carroll has moved to ease the concerns of athletes like Canberra-based race walker Beki Smith.

Carroll is confident the Tokyo Games will proceed as planned in July following meetings with ministerial offices for health and foreign affairs this week.

The absence of a vaccine for coronavirus has sparked talk a decision on whether the Games go ahead could come in late April or May.

Major sporting events in Japan have already been called off due to the outbreak which has infected more than 80,000 people across the globe and killed more than 2800.

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

"The Japanese government has announced a number of measures to contain the outbreaks in Japan which is very pleasing," Carroll said.

"From our perspective, the advice about the Games from the World Health Organisation is there is no need to consider a disruption to the Games or cancellation of the Games.

"We're certainly working with our sports about where they're competing. Training camps and Olympic qualifiers have all been moved when they had to be moved, so the athletes have been looked after there.

"The Chinese Olympic Committee have moved their athletes out of China, so they won't be caught up in any quarantine period. Sensibly, everyone is putting in plans.

"The message to our Olympians and would-be Olympians is train hard, keep focused, we'll worry about these things and you just get yourself ready for the Games."

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Petria Thomas says the cost of cancelling an event of this magnitude could not be understated.

But she says athletes would be "silly to waste energy" on things they can't control as they edge closer to the end of the four-year Olympic cycle.

Twenty-kilometre race walker Smith has adopted the same mentality as she prepares to travel to Japan for an event in the coming weeks.

"It would be [devastating if the Games were cancelled], but from an athlete's point of view, we don't think about that. That's not our role, to worry about that," Smith said.

"Our role is to train hard, work hard, stay focused, determined. We'll leave it up to the powers that be and we will adjust accordingly.

"We just take advice from the experts, AOC, IOC, Australian government. Our main focus is training, competing well, and we just take advice accordingly.

"I am actually going to Japan in a couple of weeks to race, so that will be really exciting. We have another major race in Belarus, and then guns are blazing for Tokyo, fingers crossed."