Taking the MIQ?
Rowers’ quarantine stoush
Kiwi Olympic rowers in a managed isolation hotel caused headaches for officials with continued requests for special treatment, according to government documents.
Rowing NZ has hit back at the portrayal of its athletes in the documents, saying the isolation facility exceeded their expectations.
However, a top manager at the organisation has acknowledged some athletes did make some requests beyond usual services.
The men’s eight team spent their two weeks managed isolation in the Commodore Hotel in Christchurch after returning from Olympic qualifiers in Lucerne, Switzerland in May.
At what was described as the ‘‘Regatta of Death’’, the men’s eight last month became the ninth Kiwi crew to qualify for the Tokyo Games after winning a four-way race against tough challengers Romania, Italy and China. But, once home, their stint in MIQ was far from plain sailing, according to government documents related to managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) obtained by the Sunday StarTimes.
The documents were produced towards the end of May, when the rowers were serving out their mandatory 14-day stint.
‘‘There are ongoing issues with returning Olympians currently in MIQ in Christchurch,’’ a section in a report begins.
‘‘Returning rowers continue to request that staff provide services outside of SOPs [Standard Operating Procedures], despite numerous attempts by both MIQ and Sport NZ to communicate reasoning to them.’’
Their large amounts of gear also caused headaches after it was shipped to the isolation facility without consultation with sporting or MIQ authorities, the report says.
In addition, a person linked to the group tried to get into the MIF (Managed Isolation Facility) to access the gear, an official wrote.
‘‘Other issues include large amounts of extra equipment being shipped (from within New Zealand) directly to the MIF without consultation with MIQ or Sport NZ, and members of the organisation (not in the MIF) trying to gain access to the MIF to access it.
‘‘The extra equipment now has to be stored onsite and is likely to come at an extra charge to MIQ. Sport NZ are actively managing the situation.’’
The section of the report concludes by saying the MIQ spin team within the Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation were preparing statements if matters worsened inside the hotel.
‘‘MIQ Engagement and Communications have been notified and are working on reactive communications if the situation escalates.’’
An earlier, similar government document, discussed similar issues with sportspeople returning from Olympic qualifiers, but did not say whether they were rowers. A later statement from MIQ said the rowers did not request bigger rooms, as the report suggests some athletes did.
‘‘These sportspeople are arriving as regular returnees and do not have exemptions for training,’’ the earlier document said.
‘‘However, some have been making continued requests outside of SOPs, including requesting special rooms that would otherwise be provided for families or individuals with special needs.’’
A statement from Sport NZ acknowledged frustrations among the athletes but said MIQ staff tried to accommodate the requests as best they could.
‘‘There was some confusion about the restrictions that apply to in-room training and access to equipment, however MIQ staff accommodated Rowing NZ requests as much as possible, within available space and operational requirements.
‘‘Not all of the athlete’s requests were able to be met. This created some frustration, however Sport NZ and Rowing NZ worked together to ensure the squad understood what was possible and what was not given MIQ restrictions.
‘‘MIQ is challenging for everyone, but particularly for elite athletes in the middle of preparing for a pinnacle event.’’
An MIQ spokeswoman said the rowers obtained individual vouchers through the Managed Isolation Allocation System – not as a group – so would be invoiced on a ‘per room’ basis, the same as other returnees.
The person who wanted to gain access to their equipment did not breach the perimeter of the MIF, she said.
‘‘Someone from Rowing NZ wanted to access boxes of personal items that had been shipped to the facility from Cambridge, arrangements were made for them able to do this in the car park and an adjacent building of the facility and the items were delivered to the rowers,’’ the spokeswoman said.
‘‘The rowers requested additional equipment; generally returnees have one piece of equipment per room, but only one piece of equipment could be placed in each room. ‘‘MIQ staff accommodated Rowing NZ requests as much as possible, within available space and operational requirements.
The rowers all had rooms with balconies and in some cases beds were removed to allow them more room.’’
Rowing NZ performance general manager Judith Hamilton disagreed with the officials’ portrayal of the situation outlined on the documents.
‘‘I don’t believe there were any issues.’’
She said the athletes were in a ‘‘really privileged position’’ to be able to travel then get MIQ slots for the dates they wanted. Hamilton said the athletes were told the best-case scenario was that they’d get the MIQ spot they want and they’d be able to train in their rooms with one piece of rowing equipment.
‘‘Basically, all the things got ticked, and we were very wellsupported.
‘‘I guess there’s always an expectation, well let’s try for more, but absolutely we were very happy with how it all panned out.’’