U.S. track wants Olympics postponed
The U.S. track federation added its name to a growing chorus of calls to postpone the Tokyo Games because of the coronavirus.
In a letter to the CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, USA Track and Field CEO Max Siegel urged the federation to advocate for the postponement of the Games, which are to start July 24.
USATF joins USA Swimming, which sent a similar letter to the USOPC on Thursday.
The USOPC leadership has been in agreement with the IOC, that it’s too soon to make any decisions regarding postponing the games.
Meanwhile, the leader of track’s international federation says there’s no need to hold the Tokyo Olympics at any cost and a decision about the future of the games “may become very obvious very quickly in the coming days and weeks.”
Seb Coe, the president of World Athletics, said the Olympic world is managing the coronavirus day by day and “increasingly hour by hour.”
With qualifying events being disrupted at a high rate, Coe says the level playing field is in jeopardy and if that’s lost, then so is the integrity of the competition.
He says more meetings are set for next week to determine next steps.
In addition, Brazil’s Olympic Committee has called for the Tokyo Olympic Games to be postponed until 2021.
The Brazilian body said that the decision is a necessity due to the seriousness of the pandemic and “the consequent difficulty for athletes to keep their best competitive level.”
HOCKEY
A second Ottawa Senators player has tested positive for COVID-19.
The player was part of the recent road trip that included NHL games in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles.
The total number of people on the trip was 52, including players, staff, media, guests and flight crew. Of those on the trip, 44 have shown no symptoms, eight have been tested, and two positive results were received. The team is awaiting more results from tests given over the past three days.
Everyone on the California trip was instructed to self-quarantine on March 13. The team says it is actively monitoring the situation and following all appropriate and professional guidelines.
Men’s world championships canceled: Health concerns and travel bans closing international borders stemming from the new coronavirus pandemic left the International Ice Hockey Federation with no choice but to cancel the men’s world hockey championships.
The decision to cancel the 16-team tournament to be held in Switzerland in May was formally announced Saturday, and essentially wipes out the IIHF’s entire spring calendar of world championship of events.
The two-week tournament was set to start May 8 with games to be played in Zurich and Lausanne.
SOCCER
Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz died Saturday from coronavirus, his family said. He was 76.
Sanz had been in intensive care since the beginning of the week while being treated for the virus.
Sanz presided over Madrid from 1995 until 2000, leading the club to two European titles, a Spanish league title and a Spanish Super Cup title.
Under Sanz, Madrid ended a 32-year drought in Europe by winning its seventh European trophy in 1998.
FOOTBALL
A member of the Canadian Football League’s B.C. Lions operations department has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Lions issued a statement announcing they were made aware of an employee who has the coronavirus. The person, who has not been named, is currently at home in isolation.
The team says the employee was last at club headquarters March 13. The team remains in constant communication with doctors to determine the best course of action for ensuring the safety of other employees who have been in contact with the infected person.
AUTO RACING
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton says he has been self-isolating for more than a week after meeting people who later tested positive for coronavirus.
Hamilton was at a charity event in London on March 4 also attended by actor Idris Elba and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the wife of the Canadian prime minister. Both were later found to have the virus.
Hamilton says he has “zero symptoms.”