We’ve reported about the Chinese Olympic Trials having been moved due to the COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) outbreak, along with Singapore’s National Age Group Championships, as well as several Italian swim meets. Additionally, the Japanese Olympic Trials may be held in a closed environment, sans spectators.
Now Australia is taking preemptive measures as it relates to protecting its athletes and personnel, with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) creating a matrix database to track the movements of national athletes at-risk for coronavirus contamination.
Per The Australian, the matrix database’s purpose is to keep track of where Australian athletes are going around the world, as a monitoring precaution.
“It is something that will provide a complete picture, so we can accurately update them on the coronavirus as they continue to prepare for the Olympic Games,” said an AOC spokesperson.
2016 Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers views the coronavirus as ‘out of my control’, which means he’s not letting it impact his Olympic preparations.
“It’s not distracting,” said the 21-year-old South Australian. “It’s out of my control, firstly, but I am actually really interested in it and how something like that can just take off, it’s fascinating. So I have been looking into a fair bit of news about it.” (The Australian)
In terms of an Olympics cancellation, Chalmers said, “I think by May they have hopefully solved the problem. And I guess that is their job to do. And my job is to swim as fast as I can in the pool and prepare for the Olympic Games, which is all I can really worry about for the time being.
“My mind and everything I am doing is preparing for July and I’m doing absolutely everything I can to swim as fast as I can.”