Athletes in the Tokyo Olympics will wear their medals around their necks to prevent the coronavirus from spreading. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach announced the “very significant change” to customary medal presentations in the 339 events on Wednesday.
“The medals will not be given around the neck,” Thomas Bach told international media on a conference call from Tokyo. “They will be presented to the athlete on a tray and then the athlete will take the medal him or herself.”
“It will be made sure that the person who will put the medal on a tray will do so only with disinfected gloves so that the athlete can be sure that nobody touched them before,” Bach added. The Olympic approach differs from that of European soccer, where UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has personally draped medals around the necks of players at recent championship finals.
At the Euro 2020 medal and trophy ceremony in London on Sunday, Ceferin shook hands with Italy’s star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. In a penalty shootout, Donnarumma’s save secured Italy’s victory over England in the Euro finals.
“There will be no shaking hands and no hugs there during the ceremony,” Bach announced on Wednesday in Tokyo. An International Olympic Committee member or a top official from a sport’s governing body often presents an Olympic medal. The IOC had previously stated that medalists and ceremony officials would be required to wear masks.
The Tokyo Olympics begin on July 23 with the city in a state of emergency due to an increase of COVID-19 cases.