New deal means SA athletes can train for free in Japan ahead of Tokyo 2020

SA athletes will get to train at no cost in Tokyo from next year until the 2020 Olympics‚ the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) said on Thursday.

Sascoc said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Machida City‚ in the west side of Tokyo‚ similar to ones already signed with Iizuka City and the Fukuoka prefecture.

The aim is “to enable South African athletes access to top-of-the-range training facilities in Japan as preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games”.

“The pre-games training camp agreement is part of Sascoc’s plan to prepare fully for our athletes to compete against their international counterparts and enable them to excel in various global events.

“The signed MOU will allow Team SA to utilise the training facilities at no cost between 2019 and 2020.”

Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics‚ Team SA camped in Daegu‚ South Korea‚ to acclimatise to the humid weather and recover from jet-lag‚ although on that occasion‚ they landed just one medal.