TOKYO -- USOPC BOD Chair Susanne Lyons today expressed excitement at the prospect of the Tokyo Games finally starting, but also acknowledged that these Olympics present unique challenges and will require a greater level of responsibility from participants. “Initially, when Tokyo won these Games, it was a source of great excitement for the Japanese people. Because of COVID, it’s become a source of a great deal of stress,” said Lyons. “That puts all of us in the position of doing every possible thing that we can to ensure that these Games are safe, with as low risk as possible for the Japanese people, and of course to our athletes and the people who are here to support them.”
USOPC Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Finnoff noted the vast majority of Team USA’s athletes are inoculated against COVID-19. The exact tally is still a work in progress, but Finnoff said that 83% of the nearly 600 athletes who have thus far submitted health histories have indicated they have been vaccinated. Thus far, two U.S. athletes -- beach volleyball player Taylor Crabb and gymnastics alternate Kara Eaker -- have tested positive for COVID. Finnoff said the source of transmission has not been identified, but he expects both had been infected before departing for Japan.
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