In a first, Olympic winners to put medals around their necks on their own

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, on Wednesday, said that to curb the spreading of the coronavirus, athletes at the Tokyo Olympics will be putting medals around their own necks.

This “very significant change” to traditional medal ceremonies in the 339 events was announced in a press conference held by the IOC president.

“The medals will not be given around the neck,” Bach said at a press conference.

“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 tray will do so only with disinfected gloves so that the athlete can be sure that nobody touched them before,” he added.

Bach said that in Tokyo “there will be no shake hands and there will be no hugs there during the ceremony.”

Olympic medals are typically presented by an IOC member or a leading official in a sport’s governing body. Earlier, it was mentioned that the medalists and the ceremony officials would have to wear masks.

The Tokyo Olympics open July 23 in a state of emergency and rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the city.

“We are making all our efforts and the Japanese people have all our commitment to contribute in the best way to fight this virus and not to bring any risk to the Japanese people,” Bach told reporters.

Bach said “85% of all the residents in the Olympic Village and almost 100% of the IOC members and staff coming here to Tokyo arrive vaccinated. This is why I’d like to humbly ask the Japanese people to warmly welcome the athletes from all around the world who have overcome, like the Japanese people, so many challenges.”

Japan has seen a less severe COVID-19 outbreak than many other countries, with around 15,000 deaths overall, but experts warn another wave driven by more infectious variants could stretch medical facilities.

The Summer Games organisers had earlier announced the decision to ban spectators from all but a tiny number of Olympic events , following repeated warnings from experts about the risk of crowds gathering as infections rise.

The arrival of the Refugee Olympic team was delayed after an official tested positive in Doha, the IOC said. All the team’s athletes tested negative.

While in Japan, athletes will face strict virus rules and are banned from eating at local restaurants or interacting with the public. Olympic officials on Wednesday stressed that a tiny percentage of the people coming into Japan for the event had tested positive for the virus.

Of the more than 8,000 people who arrived between July 1 and 13, three tested positive after arrival and were isolated, with their close contacts also “subject to the relevant quarantine measures”, the IOC said.