Even if the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics refuse for the moment to envisage the worst, Japan is worried by the epidemic of coronavirus which spreads on the planet and touches the country of the calm morning. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for the closure of schools on Monday March 2, without waiting for the spring break, to avoid increasing the risk of contamination.
Based in the Japanese capital, the Grenoblois Xavier Dorfman, 46, is the coach of the national rowing team. Expatriate for four years, the French technician, gold medalist in advanced four without coxswain lightweight at the Sydney Olympics, feels the atmosphere changing. “The tension has gone up a notch for two days, he says. We meet a lot of people wearing masks and stocks are running low. There are indeed the closing of schools and the cancellation of many events, so everyone is talking about it and looking for alternative solutions. We avoid crowds, public transport ... "
Qualifications from the Asia zone moved to Switzerland
Xavier Dorfman leads a group of eleven athletes and must manage this new constraint. With a touch of fatalism. Last October, he had to contend with the violent typhoon Hagibis and he is already preparing for the suffocating mixture of heat and humidity which awaits the Olympic world this summer.
"We had to cancel our March internship, replaced by individual training," he explains. The selections are scheduled in three weeks and for the moment the calendar does not change, but the situation can change very quickly. You have to stay calm and flexible to adapt to the best. On the other hand, the Olympic qualifications for the Asia zone (Editor's note: scheduled from April 27 to 30 in Chungiu, South Korea) were moved to Lucerne (Switzerland) in mid-May. Among athletes, there is necessarily a little concern, especially about the start of the international season for future qualifiers. "
As for whether the possibility is real of seeing the Olympics sacrificed, the tricolor coach plays with caution. "It's still too early to tell," he breathes. But the risk of cancellation is present… ”
