Kiwi Paralympians have chosen to bypass Tokyo opening ceremony in the face of mounting COVID-19 cases in the Japanese capital.
NZ chef de mission Paula Tesoriero has told Newshub the pandemic has produced record numbers of cases in recent days and the decision was made for the safety of athletes, who had been warned they may not get the chance to attend the August 24 event before they left home.
"The opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games is always a wonderful, exciting event, and I have no doubt the ceremony here in Tokyo will be spectacular," says Tesoriero. "But in the end, we have made a decision to not physically attend the ceremony, because of the number of cases here in Japan."
While Tokyo averaged about 3500 new cases daily during the recent Olympics, amid fears the Games would only exacerbate the infection rate, those numbers have only continued to rise since they ended on August 8.
On August 13, the city recorded 5773 new cases - an all-time high - with a current seven-day average of about 4700.
"Given the opening ceremony is an event where there is likely to be a very large number of people, it's harder for our protocols and procedures to be adhere to, so we have made that decision to not attend," says Tesoriero, who is NZ Disability Rights Commissioner and a 2008 Paralympic cycling gold medallist.
"There are a number of things we've had to do quite differently around these Games, so the team have known for some time that a provisional decision was made back in New Zealand that we might not attend the opening ceremony and we'd make the final decision here, on the ground, when we had an opportunity to observe things.
"Given the significant increase in recent days, in particular, of COVID cases in Japan, we feel that, on balance, it is right for the team to not attend. None of these decisions are easy to make, but as a leadership team, we want to stick to our commitment to the team to keep them as safe as possible."
At the Tokyo Olympics, New Zealand fielded only a very small contingent of athletes at the opening ceremony, with Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini and boxer David Nyika carrying the flag. Several athletes were scheduled to compete the next day, while many others had not arrived at the village accommodation yet, under strict COVID protocols.
Tesoriero admits the NZ Paralympic team have tougher COVID protocols than other teams at the Games, but the decision to avoid the opening ceremony was universally supported.
"We understand there will be members of the New Zealand public who will be disappointed to not see us there," she says. "Our flag will still be in the opening ceremony, we'll be watching it here in the village and we have our own event planned for marking the occasion as a team.
"The Paralympics are one of the largest sporting events in the world and the team are excited to be here, excited for the Games to start. We want to come together as a team and reflect on the challenges that have occurred in getting to these Games, and celebrate that we are here and ready to go."
Tesoriero insists no decision has been made on the September 5 closing ceremony, as NZ leadership assess the COVID infection rate at that time.
"Also, we are sending our team members home very shortly after they have competed, so that will limit our opportunity to participate, but a final decision is yet to be made."
More to come
