PV Sindhu front-runner to become flag-bearer at Tokyo Olympics
India's star badminton player and Rio Games silver medalist PV Sindhu is a front-runner to become one of the two flag-bearers for the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics. This time, India will have one male and a female athlete as the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. The Tokyo Olympics is slated to begin on July 23. Here are more details.
Last edition's medal winner usually becomes flag-bearer in next edition
The official announcement will happen at the end of this month but it is all but certain that Sindhu will be one of the flag-bearers. "Sindhu is likely to be one of the flag-bearers," an IOA source told PTI. Although there is no rule, the convention has been that the last edition's medal winner always has been the flag-bearer for the next edition.
Name of the male flag-bearer is still unclear
Wrestler Sakshi Malik also won the medal in Rio Olympics but has not qualified for this edition. It is still not clear who among the male athletes will be the joint flag-bearer. Some of the big names include athlete Neeraj Chopra, TT player Sharath Kamal, wrestler Bajrang Punia, boxer Amit Panghal to name a few. No male athletes got any medal at Rio Olympics.
Only 10,000 spectators allowed in view of the pandemic
Notably, owing to COVID-19, the International Olympic Committee has issued a slew of guidelines, including a limit of 50 percent up to a maximum of 10,000 fans for all Olympic venues. Moreover, the capacity of staff for athletes has also been reduced.
Athletes to be fully vaccinated before the Tokyo Olympics
Meanwhile, most athletes are expected to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the time the Olympics begins. Seiko Hashimoto, the President of Tokyo 2020 organizing committee had earlier said that nearly 230 doctors and 310 nurses would be needed each day during the event. The number of officials, journalists, and other staff, due to arrive in Tokyo, has been cut from 1,80,000 to 78,000.
