Olympians to be fast-tracked for vaccinations but cost of sending Aussie team to Tokyo blows up

Even mate’s rates won’t cut it with airline partner Qantas, as costs of getting the Australian Olympic team safely in and out of Tokyo reach stratosphere levels.

Ian Chesterman, vice president of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and the chef de mission of the Australian Team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The eye-watering cost of getting the Australian Olympic team safely in and out of Tokyo has skyrocketed by millions of dollars despite government assurances athletes will be granted priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that while Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) officials have negotiated a deal so that athletes won’t miss out on their free vaccination jabs because of the snail’s pace of the rollout, there’s been a massive hike to the travel bill.

While the exact costs are still being calculated and could fluctuate depending on the price of jet fuel, the AOC is facing the prospect of having to cough up for as many as nine return charter flights to Tokyo.

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Henry Hutchison speaks during the Australian Olympic team uniform unveiling in Sydney. Pictures: Getty Images

That’s because their deal with their long-term airline partner Qantas only covers the cost for bringing the team home after the Closing Ceremony.

The national carrier will still fulfil their agreement but because of the strict rules that have been introduced to ensure the Tokyo Olympics go ahead, the plane could be half empty with athletes under strict orders to leave the country within 48 hours of their events ending, and arrive no more than five days before their competitions start.

With Australia planning to send a delegation of around 1000 people to Tokyo, including 480 athletes as well as coaches and staff, that will require making multiple trips back and forth between Australia and Asia.

With the national carrier still unable to resume international commercial flights, the only way the AOC can get everyone there and back safely is by chartering Qantas planes, which will cost the self-funded committee millions — even with mate’s rates.

“This is just something we have to do to make it happen,” the Australian team’s chef de mission Ian Chesterman told The Daily Telegraph.

“We always knew this was going to be a very different Olympics and this is just another of the challenges but the most important thing for the athletes is that the games are going ahead.

While vaccinations are not mandatory, members of the Australian delegation have at least now been assured that jabs will be made available to them before they head overseas.

Ian Chesterman, vice-president of the Australian Olympic Committee and the chef de mission of the Australian team for Tokyo, says “no-one is jumping the queue” with vaccinations.

With most of the team under the age of 50 and in great physical health, the majority of Australian athletes were initially categorised in Phase 2b — described as being for “the balance of adult population” — which was the politically correct way of saying they had been shuffled near the back of the line.

But because of the ongoing delays in rolling out the vaccinations, there’s now no chance that every team member will receive the protection they need before the Olympics officially kick off on July 23.

To ensure all the Australians can travel safely to and from Japan, athletes, coaches and support staff will now be reclassified under Phase 2a, according to government sources, which includes “other critical and high risk workers.”

Chesterman speaks at the launch of the Australian uniforms for Tokyo.

“No-one is jumping the queue,” Chesterman said at the Asics team uniform launch. “We’re just being slotted into a different category in the queue for workers going overseas that need to be vaccinated.

“There‘s overwhelming support for the Australian Olympic team and I think it’s in the nation’s interests that we not only have a fit and healthy team in Tokyo but when we come back, we’re all vaccinated so not in any danger.”

While it is expected most athletes will travel to Japan just before their events, some sports, notably sailing and softball, are likely to be given special permission to head to Japan in June for warm up competitions.

About two-thirds of athletes will depart from Australia while the rest will head straight to Japan from their overseas bases.

But no matter where they came from, everyone who returns to Australia will be forced to serve two weeks in quarantine.