International Olympic Committee (IOC) framework states countries can replace COVID-19 infected athletes in mixed team shooting events of the upcoming Tokyo Games. This same request has not been granted for the individual events in the shooting. There will be 356 athletes from as many as 100 countries competing for glory in Tokyo along with women’s air rifles and 10m air pistol events drawing maximum participants.
Sport-Specific Regulations (SSR) said in a statement, “For the mixed team event, in case an athlete can no longer take part in the event, but the NOC (National Olympic Committee) has another athlete on-site, the NOC can replace an athlete team member.”
Although, shooters not able to compete due to a COVID positive case in the individual events will be marked as ‘Did Not Start’ (DNS). The Tokyo 2020 SSR has been developed jointly by IOC and the international federations. It was developed to determine the impact of a confirmed positive COVID-19 case.
Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) had named two reserves for each participant by considering the uncertain global scenario with the pandemic. They did not keep any reserve for mixed events. The Tokyo Olympics is starting from July 23 to August 8 without any crowd in the venues due to COVID-19 concerns. Indian boxers Mary Kom and hockey skipper Manpreet Singh are the torchbearers for India.
