Canberra's Olympic hopefuls will continue their preparations for the postponed Tokyo 2021 Games as per program after the AOC doused reports on Friday that the event was on the verge of being cancelled.
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Australian Olympic Committee chief Matt Carroll was quick to dismiss suggestions made to a British newspaper by a high-ranking Japanese government official that the Games would be too difficult to stage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
That claim is in stark contrast to comments made this week by International Olympic Committee boss Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga that the Games were on track to go ahead.
Athletes have been on tenterhooks for months amidst endless speculation that hosting the Olympics amidst a global pandemic would be impossible.
But strict biosecurity protocols are already being drawn up to ensure the safety of roughly 1000 Australian athletes and team personnel set to travel to Japan later this year.
That will include a five-day quarantine upon arrival in the country, plus daily COVID-19 tests. Athletes will also be confined to the Olympic village when not training or competing and be required to leave the country within 48 hours of their last event.
Canberra-based javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber said she had full faith in the Olympic organisers to stage the Games.
"I still really trust the information that's coming out of the AOC, I believe they're going to go ahead," Barber said.
"You try as an athlete to not dabble and get too caught up in the what ifs. It is so emotionally draining, I genuinely haven't spent any time considering what that [cancellation] would feel like and the impact that would have on me.
"All I can say is that it would be devastating and that would be across the board for everybody, athletes, coaches, support staff, fans of the sport, it would be devastating.
"It would take a long time, as an athlete myself it would take a few days to process that information. It is way too much of a well to dive into in terms of trying to preempt what that would be.
"I want to be competing and I want to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics this year."
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Recent opinion polls show as much as 80 per cent of the Japanese population would rather the Games didn't go ahead, due to the risk of bringing more COVID-19 into the country.
Earlier this month the country declared a state of emergency after a surge in virus cases across the country.
Ian Chesterman, Chef de Mission of the Australian Olympics team, wrote to athletes on Friday to respond to the latest report in a bid to reduce anxiety levels amongst the contingent preparing for Tokyo.
Carroll, meanwhile, has strongly backed Japan to manage athlete safety as Australia prepares to send its largest team to an Olympics since the 2000 Games in Sydney.
"If any country can handle the logistical challenge it's Japan, they're very good at it," Carroll said.
"The International Olympic Committee is working very closely with them as well, they're drawing on World Health as well to manage that through.
"Plus there's a responsibility on the national Olympic Committees, ourselves, the US Olympic Committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee, all of us have a responsibility to ensure that we follow the protocols as well and we bring our athletes to the village COVID safe. It's a joint effort it's not all on the shoulders of the Japanese."
Carroll said to expect an Olympics like no other.
"This will be very much an athletes and competition centred Games," Carroll said.
"It is not going to be the Games that it was in Rio and London. It's going to be a very simpler Games without a lot of the pomp and ceremony, it's very much about the athletes and the competition.
"[That's] no real difference to what's happened here in Australia with our competitions and what's happened to sporting events around the world. Yes it is the world's biggest sporting event so yes it is challenging to plan for it but that's what the job is about."