THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set down a new qualifying deadline for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Games have been postponed by a year and will now take place in late summer 2021.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced the hand of the IOC who are working alongside the various international federations to schedule their qualifiers.
Donegal race walker Brendan Boyce has already sealed his place at the finals. The Finn Valley AC man’s place has been, along with others who have reached the criteria, been guaranteed.
Others, such as Boyce’s Finn Valley AC colleague Mark English, Letterkenny AC’s Annmarie McGlynn, Raphoe badminton duo Chloe and Sam Magee, and Marlin’s SC swimmer Mona McSharry will now work under revised dates.
The IOC, in a communique to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) has confirmed that the new qualification period deadline is June 29, 2021.
International federations have the scope to define their own period for qualification provided the deadline ls on or before June 29, 2021.
The IOC is working to revise a qualifying system and aims to have the process in place by mid-April, although specifics would be added at a later date.
The IOC said in a statement: “We understand that at this time these are unlikely to include the full details on the dates and locations of the specified events, recognising that these will follow later as the impacts of COVID-19 and its related restrictions become clearer.
“We aim to finalise the adapted qualification systems by mid-April, with the details on specific events to follow when available. The priority remains to reflect, where possible, the allocation method/pathway of the original qualification systems for each sport.”
Further, the IOC authorised federations to determine the age-eligibility of athletes who would not make the cut in 2020 but who would in 2021.
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