Some Canadian athletes feel confident the Tokyo Games can happen next summer without a COVID-19 vaccine, but not necessarily because the head of the organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee says so.

Two-time Olympic trampoline champion Rosannagh MacLennan draws assurance from watching the NBA and NHL play games in North American hub cities, as well as the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York.

The gymnast from King City, Ont., believes those sports are providing the templates on how to run a large-scale sporting event during a pandemic without a vaccine.

B次元官网网址淚 do think itB次元官网网址檚 possible,B次元官网网址� MacLennan told The Canadian Press.

B次元官网网址淲e look to the professional leagues, and obviously itB次元官网网址檚 different, but I think we can learn a lot from the bubbles that theyB次元官网网址檝e created, the policies and practices that theyB次元官网网址檝e put in place, what worked and what didnB次元官网网址檛 work.B次元官网网址�

Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker concurs pro sports may be paving the road to a 2021 Summer Games.

B次元官网网址淭he Tokyo 2020 organizing committee and the IOC with support from (the World Health Organization) are committed to holding a simplified and safe Games,B次元官网网址� he said in a statement to The Canadian Press.

B次元官网网址淭he COC is encouraged by what we have seen so far in some pro sports, including European soccer, NBA, NHL, pro golf and pro tennis.

B次元官网网址淲e will continue to draw many lessons from that to inform our own preparations and consult with our National Sport Organizations using the health and safety of Canadian athletes as our guidepost.B次元官网网址�

Canada took the bold step this spring of declaring its athletes wouldnB次元官网网址檛 compete in Tokyo if the Olympic and Paralympic Games went ahead this summer, citing safety concerns in the advancing pandemic.

Two days later, TokyoB次元官网网址檚 organizing committee and the IOC postponed the Games to 2021.

TokyoB次元官网网址檚 chief executive officer Torisho Muto said recently the Games could go ahead without a vaccine. IOC member John Coates also stated the Games would happen despite the pandemic.

Olympic wrestling champion Erica Wiebe of Stittsville, Ont., and racewalker Evan Dunfee of Richmond, B.C., can envision it, although they doubt spectators will be able to watch them compete.

WiebeB次元官网网址檚 coach Paul Ragusa is also an Alberta Health Services epidemiologist.

B次元官网网址淗aving him in my corner in wrestling but also just managing and being up to date on what this all looks like from like health perspective, I feel so confident,B次元官网网址� Wiebe said.

B次元官网网址淚 feel like this virus will be around for a long time. Once we get a vaccine, itB次元官网网址檚 going take a long time to get everybody to a point where theyB次元官网网址檙e vaccinated.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e seen ways in which we can move forward, though, in workarounds without a vaccine.B次元官网网址�

Dunfee acknowledges he feels B次元官网网址渏adedB次元官网网址� about the IOCB次元官网网址檚 optimism, although the 50k bronze medallist in last yearB次元官网网址檚 world championship thinks heB次元官网网址檒l compete in the Olympic Games next summer.

B次元官网网址淭heir primary concern is their sponsors. ItB次元官网网址檚 not the athletes,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檒l say what they need to say to make sure that their sponsors are happy and confident in getting their value out of it.

B次元官网网址淚 think the Games will happen without a vaccine, whether or not that itB次元官网网址檚 something that should be happening B次元官网网址� I have no doubt that the IOC will do everything they possibly can to make sure it happens.B次元官网网址�

Given the hard stance the COC took on their behalf, the athletes look to team chief medical officer Dr. Mike Wilkinson for guidance on the safety of the Games.

He led a Canadian committee that developed return-to-sport and return-to-competition guidelines, which got the attention of the WHO.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檒l take my lead from the support and leadership staff at the COC,B次元官网网址� Dunfee said. B次元官网网址淚 tend to not put too much stock in anything the IOC is saying at this point.B次元官网网址�

Added MacLennan: B次元官网网址淚 think weB次元官网网址檙e we are in a really fortunate position to have a chief medical officer as strong as Dr. Mike Wilkinson.

B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 very involved not only within Canada, but internationally. I think that Canadian athletes should take a lot of comfort in knowing that we have really strong experts leading the way.B次元官网网址�

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

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