Home

Olympics

After Spectator Ban – Tokyo Olympics 2020 Announces New Protocols for Medal Ceremonies

Published 07/14/2021, 11:06 AM EDT

Follow Us

via Reuters

At a normal Olympics, all fans and athletes remember is that they get presented with the medals and exchange greetings with the presenters and other officials. Then the flag goes up and the national anthem is sung. But as the pandemic is raging across the world, Tokyo Olympics 2020 has decided to cut some of these traditions.

via Reuters

In a press conference, Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee announced that the medal winners in Tokyo will not be given the medal around their neck. The regular proceedings had a guest who would give them the medal and the memento. However, athletes will now have to pick up the medal from the tray and wear it themselves.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“The medals will not be given around the neck. They will be presented to the athlete on a tray and then the athlete will take the medal him or herself,” Bach said.

How will the Tokyo Olympics 2020 medals be handled?

via Getty

Moreover, the medals will be handled with disinfected gloves before the players are given the medals. “It will be made sure that the person who will put the medal on tray will do so only with disinfected gloves so that the athlete can be sure that nobody touched them before,” Bach added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The athletes and the officials will have to wear their masks during the medal ceremonies. And to ensure there is no spread of the virus, there won’t be any handshakes and hugs during the ceremony.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest Olympics stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

These precautions are in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the whole of Japan under emergency, there won’t be any fans in the stadiums and arenas for the games. Tokyo has been reporting over 500 cases for the past few weeks and with the vaccination of the Japanese public is below 20 percent, hence there is a lot of scare regarding the virus and the Olympic games. Let’s hope the virus doesn’t come near the Olympic village.

Simone Biles Jumps Ahead of Allyson Felix and Kevin Durant in an Elite List Ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2020

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Bhavishya Mittal

1,226Articles

One take at a time

Bhavishya Mittal is a tennis author for EssentiallySports, who is currently pursuing his Bachelor's degree in Journalism from Manipal University. A former sports editor for The Manipal Journal, Bhavishya has also worked for The New Indian Express. He has a keen eye for many sports but he is a particularly ardent follower of tennis, with a zest to create riveting articles on the ever-evolving sport.
Show More>