CHENNAI: Even as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has actively restarted the process of putting the building blocks needed to stage the Games next year, international federations are still tip-toeing.
With roughly 5,000 athlete quota places up for grabs between now and the end of June, federations have a lot of work. With a second wave of the coronavirus scything through Europe and the US, they do not have a lot of hope, but to wait and watch.
However, one Olympic qualifier in sailing - Asian Sailing Championships - that was originally slated for March 2020 has a new tentative start date: February 2021. From an Indian point of view, this is significant because they could bag a few quota places here. Considering no Indian sailor has competed at the Games since 2004, it would be a big boost.
Coach Alexander Alexandr Denisiuc confirmed the development to this daily. "I won’t be coming to Mumbai for (the nationals) but I will be travelling with Harshita (Tomar) and Vishnu (Saravanan) for the Asian Championships. It will be held in the first week of February," he said.
There is also a plan of taking Harshita to a training camp in Malta in December. "Possible that Harshita will come to Malta for a training block in December," added the coach from Maldova.
Other Indian sailors to be in action include KC Ganapathy-Varun Thakkar and Varsha Gautham-Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan. Varsha, an Asiad medallist, said she would go if the qualifier is given the all clear from local authorities. "The dates are tentative and I’m awaiting clearance from local health authorities," she said.
Problem over boats
The one big problem with this is the question over boats. If the meet is green lit, the contingent will have to think about the logistics of transporting the entire equipment.