No meeting fans, no eating out and no sightseeing — life in the Tokyo Olympic COVID-19 “bubble” could be “challenging” for athletes, the first team to arrive in Japan have warned.
Australia softball head coach Laing Harrow told reporters that his players have been watching Netflix and hitting the gym in a bid to “break the boredom” after landing in Japan on June 1.
The players “seem to be in a very good headspace,” he said, despite the severe restrictions, which organizers insist are necessary to hold the Games safely.
Photo: Reuters
However, he warned that other teams could find life difficult at the postponed Games, with cabin fever a potential risk for athletes who do not come prepared.
“It is challenging,” Harrow said in an online interview from the team’s base in Ota City, about 100km north of Tokyo. “If it’s cards or games that you can play on phones or whatever, you do need to break the boredom up a little, because there is a fair bit of downtime.”
Harrow said that his players and staff are glad to be training again after spending their first three days cooped up in the hotel.
“We’re quite lucky, because we do play games and we’re at the grounds for a good five, six hours. That takes up a fair chunk of the day,” he said.
However, he said it was disappointing that the team are barred from meeting Japanese fans.
The only interaction they have with locals is when government officials come to their hotel every morning to test for COVID-19, he said.
“It is a shame, because we’ve been to Ota City a couple of times and it’s always great to interact with the locals, but we can’t do anything about it,” he said. “We just have to maintain this bubble and we can’t put anyone in jeopardy.”
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