Olympic athletes treated as second-class citizens

Olympians face an uncertain next few months amid changing border restrictions and the government’s second-class treatment of Olympic athletes.

Jess Fox was told she would be charged thousands of dollars to quarantine

Australia’s Olympians face a hugely uncertain next few months as officials scramble to secure final qualifying spots amid rapidly changing border restrictions and the government’s second-class treatment of Olympic athletes.

While international caps, restrictive international travel and fast-changing domestic border controls present huge uncertainty, the federal and state governments’ insistence that Olympic athletes undergo mandatory hotel quarantine ahead of the Tokyo Games is emerging as a significant concern.

Professional sports such as cricket, the football codes and tennis have received government assistance with security and the sports have been able to pay for and secure bio-secure bubbles for their competitions so the players can continue to play and train.

AFL boss Gill McLachlan made one five minute phone call to Queensland premier Palasczcuk to secure the grand final in Brisbane; Cricket Australia, which set aside $30m for bio-bubbles, has had money from Destination NSW to ensure biosecurity arrangements for the Test and limited-over series and the WBBL.

But struggling Olympic sports have received no training privileges from federal or state governments, leaving sports unable to confirm qualifying competitions for the Tokyo Olympics and having to prepare plan B, C, D and E.

One official confirmed that Olympic canoe champion Jess Fox was quoted “hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars’’ when she inquired about quarantining for two weeks in a hotel where she could train each day.

The official said: “The lack of training privileges in quarantine is a major problem — athletes would happily quarantine if they could somehow keep training, but it’s completely unaffordable to set up bio bubbles, buying up entire rooms or entire hotels and paying for the security. Sports are on the edge now and it would bankrupt them.’’

In gymnastics, where Tyson Bull and Georgia Goodwin have already qualified, a handful of their colleagues look like missing the Oceania Championships, a final qualifying opportunity in China in early June, because of the need to quarantine in China and then another 14 days in Australia. If they were successful in qualifying for the Games, the two weeks stuck in an Australian hotel without training facilities would be deleterious to their Olympic performance.

Another significant issue is securing plane seats back into the country.

Track and field athletes will be able to qualify automatically at the national championships held in Sydney in April if they win with a qualifying standard. But athletes trying to secure a second and third spot may be forced to chase ranking points at events around the world.

Athletics Australia said they were not supporting athletes to travel overseas, but the organisation was not stopping them travelling. Around a dozen athletes were in Europe before Christmas, but have since been able to return home.

So far only five track and field athletes have been selected for the Olympics: 5000m runner Jessica Hull, javelin world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber, distance runner Stewart McSweyn and 20km walkers Jemima Montag and Dane Bird-Smith. An additional nine athletes could qualify if they win nationals. The bulk of the team will be named in early July and would normally comprise nearly 100 athletes.

In basketball, the final three team positions are usually determined after the end of the NBA season, but again the border restrictions and quarantine issues have proved to be a nightmare for officials.

Currently Australian athletes are able to train and have an advantage over European athletes, many of whom are in tight lockdown; but the situation looks set to be reversed once the northern hemisphere vaccination programs begin to take effect and virus countermeasures are eased.

At that point Australian athletes may be caught in state border crises as Australia heads into winter with a comparatively slower vaccination rollout and ongoing quarantine requirements.

Top beach volleyball players have already relocated to Brisbane to try to avoid border restrictions. An extra Olympic slot is available through the continental qualifier on June 27, or by securing ranking points by playing at least 12 international competitions. So far the Australians have played only 10.

All the while, sports have been told that Tokyo organisers are waiting until the last possible moment to reconfirm the viability of hosting the Tokyo Olympics.

The Weekend Australian has learned that Games officials are looking to reassess around March and are bullish that the worrying spike in infections in Europe and the US may drop in the coming weeks.

Games hosts Japan will begin a vaccination rollout in late February, starting with inoculation of 10,000 medical workers.

Meanwhile a Qantas spokesman said regular talks were being held with the Australian Olympic Committee to nut out the details of transporting Australia’s 480-member team of athletes to Tokyo, along with officials.

He said it was too early to say when the flights would operate, or what might be required of those on board in terms of quarantining at the destination.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has previously said travellers would need proof of a COVID vaccination before being allowed to board an international flight.

Qantas made the decision late last year to continue its partnership with the AOC and Paralympics Australia, despite scrapping a number of other sponsorship deals to save money in the pandemic.

The airline has carried Australia’s Olympians to every post-war Games, first flying them in 1948 to the London Olympics.

Additional reporting: Robyn Ironside