The Canadian judokas competing this week at the World Championships in Budapest may have some good news ahead of their return to Montreal.
Own the Podium (ANP) has been working for six months on the implementation of a modified quarantine for a training bubble for the benefit of Olympic and Paralympic athletes returning from their trip. Four cities are targeted: Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Victoria.
The agency hopes to get a favorable response from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) by the end of the week.
“The documents for our final proposal were submitted about three weeks ago after they reviewed our initial plan,” ANP CEO Anne Merklinger said late Monday afternoon. They asked us for additional information. They were provided between May 18 and 23. About an hour ago I received further inquiries. We are in the process of bringing them together to provide them tomorrow. We hope to have an approval very soon. ”
Upon returning home, athletes should self-isolate at a PHAC-designated airport hotel until they are tested negative for COVID-19, as do all travelers to the current time. They would then go to another place of accommodation, in this case for Montreal, a hotel near the National Institute of Sport (INS) of Quebec.
They would then undergo further drug tests before they could resume training in a strict bubble on the fifth day of their return. They could only train with teammates, coaches and support team members who accompanied them abroad.
They would eat alone, would have no contact with other people outside their bubble and would be transported in isolation between the hotel and INS Quebec.
They would be in a bubble as we have seen in Canada in hockey and curling. These are two good examples. They would be very, very small bubbles for sports and staff returning from competitions or international training camps.
Anne Merklinger, Executive Director of Own the Podium
For judo, whose athletes are due to return from Hungary on June 9 or 10, this would mean that they could resume training at the INS Quebec dojo on June 14. “It’s very different from June 23,” noted the general manager. An extra week of training is huge. ”
The ANP received letters of support from Public Health in the four provinces and four target cities. Athletes who wish to take advantage of this modified quarantine will have no choice but to do so in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary or Victoria, if the separate proposals for each of these cities are accepted.
“We’re near the finish line and we won’t stop working until we get approval,” said Mr.me Merklinger. What are we 60 days from the Games? Every opportunity they have to train when they come back from overseas is going to help them rather than being confined at home and not being able to train. This is really what we are trying to do. If we can help even just one sport, it will have been worth it. ”
