The Olympic Federation of Ireland is pressing the Government to grant elite Irish athletes an exemption to the 5km exercising rule that was introduced to help stem the spread of Covid19.
It has argued as other countries relax restrictions and
international athletes are permitted to train outdoors again, Irish athletes in
the Republic are losing out.
In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, there are
no kilometre-based restrictions for exercising and training, meaning cyclists
based in Britain have not had their training interrupted in any way.
Even in countries such as France, Spain and Italy where
restrictions were very severe, they have now been lifted to allow people
exercise.
Special exemptions have extended to professional athletes
in those countries that ensure the pros are not restricted by some of the
measures still being imposed on the general public when they exercise; such as
defined locations and times.
Advertisement
And now the Olympic Federation of Ireland believes Irish
athletes in Olympic sports should be allowed to train with no ‘kilometres from
home’ restrictions.
Related News
It believes anyone in contention to be selected for the
Olympics or Paralympics should be allowed to return to training unencumbered by
the 5km rule, which will next Monday week be extended to 20km.
“We have a situation at the moment where rowing clubs for
recreational users in Ireland are open in line with government protocols, yet
our Olympic rowers can’t access the water in line with those same protocols
because they are living outside the permitted kilometre radius from their
national training centre,” said Peter Sherrard, Olympic Federation Ireland
chief executive.
“The solution is a simple waiver from the relevant health
authorities for this small number of athletes so that they can travel the
required distance to train, just as their competitors internationally have been
granted weeks ago.”
He added “frustrations” were being experienced by elite
Irish athletes from a variety of sports but despite working closely with the
Government and Sport Ireland on the issue, there was still no “green light” for
athletes to train.
“Irish sport and Irish athletes have been incredibly
respectful throughout lockdown and will continue to support all the measures
that need to be implemented,” Sherrard added.
“While phased plans have been agreed for a recreational return to sport, we believe that the Olympic and Paralympic athletes who represent us internationally need prioritisation to return without delay," he added of an estimated 200 athletes.
“The longer they are away from their high performance
training environments, the harder it will be for them to return to optimum
fitness and their peak performance in time for next year’s Games.”
Topics
