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The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee (Tokyo 2020) today published the first Playbook for Tokyo 2020. According to the IOC, IPC, and Tokyo 2020, the playbook is, “a resource which outlines the personal responsibilities key stakeholders must take to play their role in ensuring safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.” The series of Playbooks will provide a framework of basic principles that each key stakeholder group will follow before they travel to Japan, when they enter Japan, during their time at the Games, and when they leave the Games. Athletes received a preview of their yet to be published playbook during a call with the Global Network of Athletes’ Commissions on Monday. The Playbooks have been developed jointly by Tokyo 2020, the IOC, and the IPC. According to those organizations, the Playbooks, “are based on the extensive work of the All Partners Task Force, which also includes the World Health Organization, the Government of Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, independent experts and organisations from across the world, and the interim report published by the Three-Party Council in December 2020. In addition, the Playbooks also draw upon the lessons learned from the successful measures being implemented in other sectors, including the successful resumption of thousands of international sports events across the world.” The Playbooks also outline the typical journey for each stakeholder group, beginning with measures starting 14 days before arriving in Japan, testing before departure and upon arrival in the country, and the use of smartphone applications to report health and support contact tracing during Games time. Measures will also be in place to identify, isolate, and treat any potential positive cases. The first of the Playbooks was revealed on Monday. According to the IOC, IPC, and Tokyo 2020 the Playbook for International Federations and Technical Officials was released first, “for logistical reasons.” Playbooks for the athletes, media and broadcasters will be published within the coming days. The publication of each Playbook will be accompanied by a series of briefings from the IOC, IPC, and Tokyo 2020 with the stakeholders in question. The Playbooks will also receive updates in the lead up to the Games. Speaking about the publication of the Playbooks, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said, “the health and safety of everyone at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 are our top priority. We each have our part to play. That’s why these Playbooks have been created – with the rules that will make each and every one of us a sound, safe and active contributor to the Games. We know these Olympic Games will be different in a number of ways.” Dubi continued, "for all Games participants, there will be some conditions and constraints that will require flexibility and understanding. We are providing the main directions at this stage, but naturally don’t have all the final details yet; an update will be published in the spring and may change as necessary even closer to the Games. We will make sure all the information needed is shared as quickly as possible to ensure we are fully prepared to protect all those coming to and residing in Japan during the Tokyo 2020 Games.” He further continued, saying, “by committing to following the Playbooks we will be stronger together. In return, the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be remembered as a historic moment for humanity, the Olympic Movement and all those contributing to their success.” Craig Spence, the IPC’s Chief Brand and Communications Officer, said, “to ensure safe and successful Games this summer, every single stakeholder involved in, or attending the Games has a key role to play. Central to this are the Playbooks that form an integral part of a new and robust masterplan developed over the last 12 months to protect every Games stakeholder and, importantly, the people of Japan during Tokyo 2020.” He continued, “since March 2020’s postponement we know much more about COVID-19, while the thousands of international sports events that have taken place safely over the last year have given us valuable learning experiences. Combining this new knowledge with existing know-how has enabled us to develop these Playbooks, which will be updated with greater detail ahead of the Games.” Tokyo 2020 Games Delivery Officer Nakamura Hidemasa commented, “the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the daily lives of people around the world, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games need to adapt accordingly. Safety and security have become everyone’s top priority, and this summer's Games will be no different. Accordingly, Tokyo 2020, the IOC and the IPC have jointly published individual Playbooks for each stakeholder outlining the rules that need to be followed by all Games participants.” He further explained, "the Playbooks were created from the perspective of the participants themselves, based on the interim summary that was published at the Coordination Meeting for COVID-19 countermeasures last December. They include not only the specific measures that need to be taken, but also details of the rules that need to be observed and the appointment of a single person to oversee COVID-19 countermeasures in each stakeholder group to ensure effectiveness. The purpose of this first edition is to communicate ‘what we know at this time’ to a large number of people in an easy-to-understand manner. The Playbooks will be updated to the second edition this spring as the situation changes.” He continued, “through careful communication we would like to ensure that everyone involved in the Games around the world is aware of our plans. We hope thereby to assure them that, if each and every one of them follows the rules when participating in the Games, they can be held in a safe and secure manner. We hope that daily life can return to normal as soon as possible, and we would like to express our gratitude to the medical professionals, essential workers and everyone else who is working hard to ensure this. In the meantime, we will continue our preparations for ensuring safe and secure Games in the spirit of safety will be the number-one priority for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.” The first Playbook, published for International Federations, can be viewed and downloaded here.

Nicol David (MAS) can now officially lay claim to being the Greatest World Games Athlete of All-Time after she won an online fan-vote. The Malaysian Squash superstar won the vote with 318,943 votes to her name. David is a three-time gold medalist in women’s singles at the World Games. She also has a bronze medal to her name from the most recent edition of the Games. Speaking about the honor, David said, “It came as a surprise to see me amongst these other top athletes and I’m grateful for this...hopefully it can elevate attention for the future of Squash, and it’s a proud moment to represent my country and Asia.” World Squash Federation President Zena Wooldridge commented, “Nicol has beaten a number of distinguished athletes to first place and her victory is recognition of a wonderful career that saw her break numerous records and win everything there was to win in the sport.” She continued, “Not only is Nicol one of the greatest athletes of all time, she is also a tremendous role model for thousands of people across the globe and a true ambassador for our sport. I’m also delighted to see the support Nicol enjoyed from our passionate and loyal squash community and we are all proud to see Nicol named as The World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time.” The runner-up for The World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time honor was James Kehoe (IRL). Kehoe, who finished the vote with 113,120 votes to his name, is a nine-time medalist at the World Games in Tug of War. Speaking about the support he received during the vote, he stated, “It’s been a very different but exciting few weeks. I am a shy person by nature and prefer to be out of the spotlight, but as the competition progresses, much to my surprise I am enjoying it more. I am totally overwhelmed by the amount of support I am receiving. It is an honour for me and my club to have been chosen as a competitor in this competition.” Powerlifter Larysa Soloviova (UKR) finished third in the vote. Soloviova has four World Games gold medals to her name. Commenting on her performance in the vote, Soloviova stated, “During these weeks, we had a great challenge. People all over the world had to choose between many GREAT sportsmen. Each of these sportsmen deserve to be written down in the history of The World Games. I want to express my gratitude to all the powerlifters and friends of our sport from all the part of the World for their dedication and support! Thank you for constant everyday voting for me and for Powerlifting in general.” She continued, “Thanks to the Ukrainian National Powerlifting Federation, Regional Powerlifitng Federations and International Powerlifting Federation for the media support and encouragement! I am very happy that we reached our goal together. My Friends, you proved to the World that Powerlifting is a big and strong sport Family, which unites many thousands of faithful hearts beating in one rhythm – rhythm of Sport. I strongly believe that our achievement will make a huge push in the promotion of powerlifting." Speaking on David’s victory, and more so about the vote itself, IWGA President José Perurena stated, “I would like to warmly congratulate Nicol David, and also all the other candidates in the race. Nicol David is an inspirational athlete, and a fine role model for younger athletes. The race was incredible, and it was good to see how athletes got support not only from their own sport, but also from their country and the highest sports authorities there. Sports really unite people in a special way. This vote was a celebration of that.” The World Games are a quadrennial international multi-sports games mainly for sports not present at the Olympic Games. The next edition of the Games is scheduled to be held in Birmingham, Alabama in 2022. To view full results of the online vote, click here.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board decided against the inclusion of Para Bobsleigh at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games, and thus has finalized the sports program. In December 2020, the IPC announced that a decision on Para Bobsleigh’s inclusion at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games would be deferred until early 2021 pending clarification in several areas. After clarifying these matters, the IPC Board decided not to include Para bobsleigh due to the sport not meeting the minimum criteria for the number of nations and regions regularly participating in the sport. According to data provided by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) to the IPC, the sport was widely and regularly practised in 10 countries and three IPC regions over the 2016/17-2019/20 seasons. The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation seemed to counter this claim in a press release on the matter. The statement read, “Statistics provided to the IPC showed that in the past two seasons 13 Nations regularly participated but in the year 2016/17 only eleven and 2017/18 only twelve nations can be seen as “regularly participating”. In the previous season 2019-2020 even 16 Nations participated.” Under the IPC Handbook, for the Paralympic Winter Games an individual sport must be widely and regularly practised at the performance level in a minimum of 12 countries and three IPC regions over the designated four-year period. IPC President Andrew Parsons, said, “The IPC Governing Board decided not to include Para bobsleigh in the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games after the sport fell short of the minimum criteria required in terms of global participation over the last four seasons. In our review of documentation provided by IBSF, 10 countries can be considered as widely and regularly practising the sport over the last four seasons. This is two short of the minimum criteria for inclusion in the Paralympic Winter Games.” He continued, “I know this will be understandably disappointing news to the Para bobsleigh community. However, the sport should be encouraged that if it can maintain the participation levels it had during the 2019/2020 season when 16 nations took part in performance competitions, it will be in a strong position for inclusion in the 2030 edition of the Games.” IBSF President Ivo Ferriani stated, “This is an extremely disappointing decision and we will follow-up with the IPC Governing Board accordingly. The IBSF has a strong commitment to Parasport and will continue so in the future. We all know how important it is for all para athletes to be accepted in the Paralympic program for their national fund programs. Most of our athletes are self-funded with a great financial and operational support from the IBSF side.” He continued, “Para Bobsleigh shows gender equity by not making a difference between a female or male athlete but having both gender slide with the same equipment and under the same conditions in one race. We will not give up fighting for our sports.” The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation was officially recognized as the governing body for Para Bobsleigh and Para Skeleton back in 2014. Regular IBSF Para World Cup races have been held since the 2014-2015 season. There has also been an annual world championship held in the sport since 2016. With the exclusion of Para Bobsleigh, the IPC confirmed that five para sports will feature on the program for the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. Para Alpine skiing, Para Ice Hockey, Para Nordic Skiing, Para Snowboard and Wheelchair Curling will compose the sports program. The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games are scheduled to take place between 6-15 March 2026.