The Tokyo Roller Coaster

The lives of athletes have been flipped upside down by the coronavirus pandemic and the postponement of Tokyo 2020. Mike Rowbottom asks how you prepare for Games like no other.

Suddenly, Marnie McBean, the triple Olympic rowing champion and Chef de Mission for Team Canada at Tokyo 2020, has stopped talking.

I wonder if we have lost the line, but no. She’s still there, clearly considering her response to a question about the peculiar stresses she faces in her current role as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As an athlete yourself you know about the ups and downs of such a journey anyway, and with the pandemic it’s just been squared, hasn’t it?” I had asked.

“It’s an enormous thing to take in as an athlete, and it must be really difficult for you, wanting the best for the athletes, and you can just imagine all the things they are going through?”

She resumes. “Err…err well, yeah…honestly I think I just teared up at you saying that.”

“The pandemic is different from anything,” the Officer of the Order of Canada and recipient of World Rowing’s Thomas Keller Medal adds.

“I didn’t go through a pandemic as an athlete. But I remember the moment before what would have been my third Games in Sydney, when after my MRI for a lower back injury the doctor said ‘I can give you the bad news or the really bad news’.

“Basically, it was done. It was three weeks beforehand. We had just arrived for a pre-Games training camp in Australia. So I remember what it felt like. Way back in March of 2020 when the Tokyo Games were postponed, I knew what the athletes were hearing.

“In that roller coaster analogy it’s that moment when you have just come over the top and the bottom falls out.

“You just feel nothing below you. But there are times when really hard decisions are made very clearly and they are really easy to make. For me it was ‘I can’t row’.

“So with the athletes I think the thing through this whole period of time is to really value every emotion that they’ve had. To never tell them to not feel something, whether it’s been anger, frustration, sorrow or depression.

“I remember coming into this role in July 2019 and being asked what I wanted as the Chef de Mission.

“I want Canadian athletes to be able to go to the Games and be their authentic self. If you’re a confident person I want you to feel authentically confident. And if you’re a person who needs to feel doubt, feel doubt.

“I know athletes who can only perform

MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES

when they are really wallowing in the imposter syndrome - ‘I don’t belong here…’

“I felt that way. I felt I devalued the medal as soon as I’d won it. It used to be heroes that won these things and now I’ve got a couple of them…”

Fifty-three-year-old McBean believes that “normal people” who feel they don’t belong at the Games are exactly the people who do.

Her message during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a call to move forward, while she marked the 100 days to go milestone before Tokyo 2020 by urging an “exciting push to the finish”.

“Someone is going to be winning Olympic medals in a less-than-normal Olympics - let’s be the ones who are rising up on this day,” she said.

“Everyone is on a different path but no-one has had a standard path to these Olympics.”

Asked to reflect upon the changes the pandemic has brought about to her role, McBean said that everyone’s job has changed significantly.

“Tokyo is going to be my tenth Games, and for five or six of them I have gone as a team member with a role as a specialist in press and mentoring,” the four-time Olympic medallist said.

“Going into 2020 I knew the year was going to be a lot of travel in the lead-up to the Games, into athlete training camps and competitions, and really getting familiar with them so that when we got to the Games there would be no new faces.

“That changed dramatically. I had a flight booked to Tokyo on a Saturday afternoon and on Friday night it was like ‘well, you’re not going’.

“So basically I just stopped travelling. Going into athlete camps and becoming familiar with Japan and with our team quickly was not a legit plan any more.

“But what turned out to be really good was that in my history as a team mentor, I always communicated through emails, sort of like a newsletter but more personal than that.

“I’ve mentioned repeatedly to athletes that there has always been - and I would have been talking about this even without the pandemic - two different parts of the Olympics. There’s the Olympic competition and the Olympic Games.

“The Olympic Games is all the stuff at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. And I have always said it’s not whether or not you want to go to the Opening or Closing Ceremony, particularly the Opening Ceremony, it’s whether you ought to go.

“There are a lot of people who don’t go because it’s not a good competitive opportunity.

“One of the things we have started doing with Team Canada is making sure that, before Beijing 2022 for example, we have five trips to Beijing with multiple teams so they don’t have to be tourists when they go to compete there.

“I was listening to a journalist moaning recently about how these Games are going to happen.

“He was saying ‘so what you really expect is for the athletes to arrive, go to their hotel rooms, go to their training, do their competition and then leave?’

“And I went ‘well yeah, that’s pretty much it’. If you talk to the canoe kayakers, that’s what they do.

“They compete in the second week, they are in hotel rooms somewhere remote, they watch the Games on TV, they show up, they compete, and then everyone is packing up to leave.

“For months I have been reminding the athletes that it’s actually the performance they should be focusing on. Just the performance and they should not worry about other things.

“I refer to the Tokyo playbooks as the ‘no-playbooks’. Here’s all the fun you can’t have…

“But they are also userpositive in that they are telling you how to do your sport, and they are telling you that the Olympic Games are on.”

When McBean took on her current role she said one of her main objectives at Tokyo 2020 would be to create a safe and welcoming environment for Canadian athletes to speak

Marnie McBean's plans for Tokyo 2020 were ripped up when the Games were postponed. Photo: Getty Images

MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Athletes have been urged to focus on their Olympic dreams instead of the upheaval.

Photo: Getty Images

openly about their passions outside of sport.

How does that sit with Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which includes the following line: "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas?"

“It’s not simple, is it?” McBean says, after a significant pause. “Our Athletes’ Commission got together and they were in agreement with the global results from the IOC Athletes’ Commission that they wanted to have opportunities but they didn’t want those opportunities to disrupt the field of play.

“And they were clear in wanting to know what was the difference between a protest and a demonstration, and how do you get to say what is important to you?

“And I recognise that while the majority of athletes have voted this way, it has often been the athletes who are in the minority who need to ring some sort of bell to draw awareness to a situation.

“I think it’s going to be the hardest thing to do as a Chef de Mission, to respect an athlete’s right to choose if they want to break a rule. That’s going to be heartbreaking, but I am going to have to respect what they’ve done.

“These are the rules of sport. But it’s going to come back to the Canadian public, and the Canadian public could go ‘you know what? I’m proud of that athlete for making that stand’ or they could think ‘that wasn’t the place to do it’.

“We are a team of Canadian athletes, which makes them Canadians first, and I believe they have all their human rights. But they are athletes also and they understand the rule.”

McBean and her colleagues have been looking hard at how many people really need to be in Tokyo.

Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in Japan and, coupled with a slow vaccine rollout, huge numbers of local people are nervous.

“I have people who I count on to do my job as Chef de Mission,” McBean said. “Two of those people I anticipated meeting with at least once or twice a day in Tokyo, sitting around having an end of day drink as we looked at the schedules and results, and bantering about what’s going on.

“One of them is now going to be working from New Brunswick, and the other one is going to be based in Montreal.

“We have pared our team down significantly - even the mentors who we have working with our athletes. For Tokyo, with a team of more than 400, we have two mentors. And at the Beijing Winter Games, for a team of more than 200, we will have five.

“I’m starting to hear that a lot of the TV coverage is going to be done from Toronto. Everyone is adjusting how it’s going to be done. Interviews are way more fun in person, I get it, but that can’t always happen.

“We have also been looking at telling all our national sports federations, friends and family that they are going to be in a hotel room and won’t get to go around.

“If they want to go into the Olympic Villages they can’t use public transport and we won’t have the resources to use our transportation for them.

“We have told them ‘it’s not going to be a great experience for you there, so how can we help out?’

“I want everybody there. I want fans in the stands, I want Canadian fans in the stands. We want you there as journalists.

“But as I’ve said to our team, we don’t need our mums and dads and brothers and sisters in the stands to know that they love us and that they are cheering for us.”

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has insisted that more than 80 per cent of athletes and

The usual mixing between people from different countries will not be allowed to happen in Tokyo. Photo: Getty Images

officials at Tokyo 2020 will have been vaccinated, while trying to give the impression that the Village at the Games will be safe.

“This number will even continue to grow as we approach the Games with the many new and ongoing efforts in this regard, including offers from three different vaccine producers to the IOC for Olympic participants,” he said.

So what proportion of Canadian athletes at Tokyo 2020 does McBean envisage being vaccinated against COVID-19?

“Right now I don’t have those facts,” she said. “I was talking with our softball team recently and they had a training camp in the United States and they all got vaccinated.

“And they were somewhat sheepish and saying ‘how do we talk about that?’ And I was like ‘Tell the truth. You’ve been in the States, they’ve vaccinated you and that’s great’.

“There are places in the world where you go and, particularly in the States, it’s easy to get the vaccine.

“Now in Canada it's 18-and-over across the country. So we will rapidly be getting doses into arms.

“It’s what we expected - if we just wait our turn it will come up. Now, more than 50 per cent of Canadians eligible have had immunisation.

“Of our most vulnerable citizens, 70 to 80 per cent had a first shot. Most of our provinces are recovering after the terrible third wave we had.

“Even pre-vaccinations there were more than 400 competitions with 50,000 athletes competing around the world, and there hasn’t been a spreader amongst them.

“With athletes we are also talking about a group that is really used to following rules, filling out forms, giving testing whereabouts for the next six months. Athletes are really used to having some of their personal choices restricted.”

Paul Ford, the deputy Chef de Mission for Britain at Tokyo 2020, echoes McBean’s emphasis on trying to keep athletes’ minds firmly on their level of performance. “The critical thing for us is maintaining focus on the performance of athletes and reassuring them that their focus should be on delivering on what they’ve been working so hard for over the last Olympic cycle and beyond,” he told insidethegames.

“We have been working very hard with all our local partners in Kawasaki and Yokohama, as well as the Local Organising Committee, to ensure our athletes and staff are safe in the environment and that we are the best guests possible to the people of Japan. “We feel very safe and confident in the diligent work that’s being done across multiple partners. The IOC, the Japanese Government and the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games have all been working extremely hard to provide a framework for the delivery of the Games through the Tokyo playbooks, which best supports the athletes and their safe participation across whichever sport they compete in.

“In terms of vaccinations, it’s fantastic that the IOC and Pfizer have worked together to make vaccines available for all the nations competing at the Games.

“We’ve worked closely with the British Government and the National Health Service, who are doing an incredible job, and now we’re working with all national governing bodies to implement this roll-out for athletes and staff across our delegation.” Asked about athletes’ biggest concerns going into the Games, Ford replies: “The biggest questions we’re getting from athletes are about how these Games are going to be different.

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“Ultimately, they are going to be different for obvious reasons including restricted movement, less time in the country and less time practicing in their competition venues.

“The comfort we’re able to give them is through Team GB facilities like the preparation camp or performance lodge, so they can complete final training in the country with the same Games equipment and spaces that they would have had were they in the competition venues, which has been reassuring for them.”

On the subject of how athletes will cope with the restrictions at Tokyo 2020, Ford makes a similar point to McBean’s about how following rules is something ingrained in them. “We’ve done a number of video calls for all potential athletes for the Games, as well as daily contact with governing bodies to ensure they’re aware of what the requirements are,” he said. “Rules aren’t something new for athletes and teams participating at the Games.

“We work on the principle of functioning as ‘one team’ and how we can bring together the 33 Summer Olympic sports to become Team GB at the Summer Olympic Games under our shared values.

“That’s something we go back to and those responsibilities of uniting the teams together are no different to what they’d be pre-COVID, but now it’s re-emphasising that point.” When considering the most challenging aspects of the Tokyo 2020 playbooks to deliver, in terms of athlete safety and behaviour, Ford said the biggest thing for an athlete to consider is “why they are there”.

“That’s to take part in the pinnacle of their sporting careers and we hope delivering the sporting performance of their lives at the Olympic Games,” he said.

“It’s about reassuring them that the restrictions and rules in place from the playbooks are there for their own safety and for the nation of Japan.” All of the upheaval means there will be extra emphasis on the mental health of athletes come Games time. “Team GB is implementing its own mental health strategy for the Games, something it has been working on in consultation with sports and experts in this field in the UK,” Ford said.

“The emphasis is ensuring we are supporting athletes and staff in the build-up to, during and after the Games, ensuring that mental and physical well-being is considered and catered for throughout.

“We have delivered specialised training for a group of mental health champions across the HQ team, and across all our sport disciplines most staff have attended a three-hour mental health awareness workshop which focused on positive mental health, self-care and signposting routes for referrals.

“It is hoped that this approach will help to promote well-being, reduce risk factors for poor mental health and ensure there is appropriate support for those experiencing mental health problems.”

Greek pole vaulter Katerina Stefanidi will be defending her Olympic title in Tokyo, supported by the man who is both her husband and coach, Mitch Krier.

The 31-year-old athlete, who moved to the US in 2008 to take up an athletics scholarship at Stanford University, will head into the Games with one main worry.

“As an athlete my concern is to be in Tokyo and test positive for COVID-19 when I have absolutely no health issues, and then I am not allowed to compete,” she told insidethegames. “Similarly if the same happened to my coach.

“As a person I am concerned about the health of myself and my husband and coach, but also our team.

“Our head coach, for instance, is recovering from cancer treatment and I am sure he is high risk. I trust that Japan will have good measures and I have read the playbook, but of course anything can happen with this virus.

“I want to hope and believe that as long as we stay in the Olympic Village and get tested every day, we should not put the Japanese public in any danger.

“Of course that would require athletes to be responsible and not leave the Village, and to follow all the health protocols.

“I had fewer competitions this year than I did in 2016 before Rio. However, part of the reason why is because the Tokyo Olympics this year are two weeks earlier than Rio was.

“I would have definitely liked more time but we have planned to peak at the beginning of August and this is why I had to start competing early this outdoor season, in order to time things up correctly.

“I would say the general hassle about the Tokyo 2020 Games is something that worries me a lot.

“Currently Greece has a scheduled training camp in Japan before the Olympics, so hopefully we won’t have to come into Japan just five days before competition. “But of course it is possible that this gets cancelled. I have heard of other countries having their training camps cancelled. I don’t want to think about this until it happens, but it would definitely be very difficult to arrive in Japan and the Olympic Village just five days before.

“It would be especially very stressful for pole vaulters as our poles don’t always arrive with us.”

Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi said she feared having to withdraw from the Games

due to a positive COVID test. Photo: Getty Images