WEDNESDAY,MARCH11,2020 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO B15
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Leaguerun B17[PHOTOOFTHEDAY]REPORTONBUSINESS |For many athletes and teams
who have yet to qualify for the
Tokyo Olympics, the global virus
outbreak is spoiling plans and
ruining hopes.
Qualifying events are being
cancelled or postponed almost
daily, and time is running out for
athletes to prove they meet the
standard.
Rowing was the latest sport to
find itself in flux on Tuesday
when it cancelled two World
Cups, the European Olympic and
Paralympic qualifying regatta,
and the final Paralympic quali-
fier. All were to be held in Italy
from April 10 to May 10.
World Rowing said it wants to
relocate the qualifiers and was
talking with other countries. It
hoped to offer good news next
week.
For now, the Asia and Oceania
qualifying regatta and the final
qualifying regatta are still going
ahead from May 17 to May 19 in
Lucerne, Switzerland.
On Monday, the International
Judo Federation cancelled all
Olympic qualifiers through April
30, including a Grand Slam and
two Grand Prix. Another Grand
Prix last weekend, in Morocco,
was cancelled earlier. Judo qual-
ifying ends on May 25.
“It is of paramount impor-
tance to keep the judo family
safe in these difficult times, and
also to ensure fair chances for allathletes engaged in the Olympic
qualification,” the IJF said.
Other sports as diverse as
weightlifting, swimming and
badminton have also been post-
poned indefinitely or cancelled
outright.
The African weightlifting
championships in Mauritius
next month were postponed on
Tuesday. The Asian champion-
ships set a week later in Uzbekis-
tan were cancelled last week.
Because of the virus, the in-
ternationalgoverningbody is al-
lowing lifters yet to qualify, to
register for major qualifying
competitions out of their region,
such as the European, Pan Amer-
ican or even the Oceania
champs.
The Badminton World Feder-ation, however, has refused to
extend the qualifying period,
and noted players from its lead-
ing country, China, have been
healthy and passed tests for CO-
VID-19.
Badminton has lost three
tournaments alone this month
in Europe – in Germany, Portugal
and Poland – with the end of
qualifying rapidly approaching
on April 26.
One of its biggest events out-
side of the world championships,
the All England Open, is going
ahead on Wednesday in Birming-
ham.
Chinese teams have pulled
out of numerous events world-
wide, and others, such as Russia
gymnasts teams, have cut back
their schedules.For most people, the new cor-
onavirus causes only mild or
moderate symptoms, such as fe-
ver and cough. For some, espe-
cially older adults and people
with existing health problems, it
can cause more severe illness, in-
cluding pneumonia.
The vast majority of people re-
cover from the new virus. Ac-
cording to the World Health Or-
ganization, people with mild ill-
ness recover in about two weeks,
while those with more severe ill-
ness may take three to six weeks
to recover.
In mainland China, where the
virus first exploded, more than
80,000 people have been diag-
nosed and more than 58,000
have so far recovered.
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