WAKE UP TO CHALLENGE OF HELPING COMMUNITY
Campbell says Tokyo would be beacon of hope to world LOOKING OUT FOR VULNERABLE FANS
DARREN CAMPBELL says the Olympics must not be postponed YET as they offer light at the end of a long tunnel for a suffering world.
The British sprint legend instead wants an Easter date set at which Games chiefs announce a decision on when exactly the Tokyo event will take place.
Campbell, who won sprint relay gold at the 2004 Olympics, said: “Athletes are in no-man’s land at the minute. They’re being told ‘keep training’ but what are they training for?
“The world is going into lockdown and some are out chasing their dream, others unable to.
“Fear and anxiety is spreading and while we all know sport can’t be the priority any time soon, these athletes need some clarity.”
Campbell says clear and decisive leadership is needed and has come up with his own blueprint for the way forward.
“There is no playbook for what we are all going through, no timeframe for how long it will take,” he said. “We can hope but we can’t know.
“With four months until Tokyo we do still have time should the situation take a turn for the better next
WAKEFIELD chief executive Michael Carter spent last night delivering food parcels to an elderly supporter.
Carter and Trinity had offered to help fans in the vulnerable category during the coronavirus pandemic and have been trying to contact them all.
That has seen club owner Carter personally pitch in with an increasing number of supporters unable to venture out.
Carter said: “We like to think that month. So a knee-jerk response now is not the way. At some point spirits are going to need lifting and the Olympics we know has the power to do that.
“My solution is to nominate April 14, the day after Easter Monday, as decision-day. If there is no sign of improvement by then postpone the Games and announce a new date.”
Campbell’s preference is for either September or October, as that “hopefully” would allow athletes time to get competition-ready and for qualifiers to be held.
The British Olympic Association has pledged it will do nothing to “endanger the health of athletes”.
The BOA stopped short of calling for a postponement, even though rowing legend Sir we’re a big part of the local community.
“We’ve been checking in and seeing if our older season ticket holders are okay – we’ve not got round all of them yet as there’s around 500 but we’ve made a good start.
“One lady asked if I’d pick a food parcel up for her dad so I nipped it round for him.
“It’s not a big thing but at times like this hopefully we get to see the
Matt
Pinsent labelled it “unfair” to press on with a July 24 start date when “organised sport in any meaningful way has ceased”.
But they did concede that there are “significant challenges developing in training and qualification programmes” that will have a “major” impact between now and the Games.
“It is clearly only wise for athletes to continue to prepare where it is safe and appropriate to do so, within relevant Government and public health guidelines,” the BOA said in a statement.
“We can be categorically clear that we will not endanger the health and wellbeing of the athletes or wider delegation at any point.” better side of everybody. This isn’t just a rugby league thing, it’s a being part of humanity thing. “We’ve all seen videos of people hoarding, but I do think it’s a small minority in this country and everybody else would do anything they could to help their next door neighbour.” Warrington are among other clubs stepping up their efforts in the local area, including offering free online mental health sessions and ringing elderly members. Super League referee Chris Kendall is part of a volunteer group in Huddersfield providing help to the vulnerable and Carter says it epitomises the sport as it looks for Government support.
He said: “We’ve just had a report done on the social value our club provides within the community and it was in excess of £1million.
“That’s financial burden being taken away from the NHS and general local council services.”