Adam Peaty Tough to know whether Olympics should go ahead in middle of pandemic

Reigning 100m breaststroke champion Adam Peaty said there was no “right answer” as to whether the Tokyo Olympics should be going ahead in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Games were pushed back a year owing to Covid-19 and the virus has meant a number of curbs are in place for the delayed event – with crowds largely excluded.

Tokyo is under a state of emergency which will run throughout the Games with the torch relay also impacted by virus concerns.

Peaty said: “Obviously, you have got to think about the normal people who do live here.

“But on the opposite end of the spectrum, you’ve got to have the realisation and respect the athletes who have trained (for) five years, every single day getting up at 5am, and going to bed at 10.30pm with a screaming baby.

“They commit their whole lives to this moment, for this three week, four week long event.

“You’re never going to get the right answer. And, you’ve got to look at it in a way that if you sat everyone around the table, everyone’s going to have an opinion.

“For me, I think, obviously, I’m biased because I want them to happen because I want to race, but I kind of feel for the home nation who don’t want these Games to happen, or you know, people back home who don’t want these Games to happen.

“You’ve seen it at the Euros where you see a lot of people together and it could be a super spreader (event), we just don’t know.

“And for me, I’m double vaccinated, and I have taken every single measure to make sure that I’m not going to spread it to anyone else if I did have it.

“That’s all I can do. And some athletes are coming out here without any vaccinations and you’ve got to ask the same question to them.

“So it’s not an easy answer, unfortunately.”

Published: 18/07/2021 by Radio NewsHub