B210 director and Olympics analyst Dominick Gauthier is pleased to see that COVID-19 testing has changed in Tokyo ahead of the Olympics. Since the arrival of technical teams of broadcasters or athletes, there have been many positive results due to the hyper-sensitivity of the tests.

Gauthier sent a letter to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach requesting the use of COVID-19 detection tests approved by international authorities. The IOC and the organizing committee finally complied, much to the relief of the former Olympic athlete.

“We were afraid of the worst. What worried me to be honest up until 24 hours before the decision was that the IOC was saying it was legitimate to have the tests worth 40 and that we weren’t going to change them . Probably I was not the only one to express my dissatisfaction. »

In this period of pandemic, Gauthier estimated during an interview carried out during the 5 à 7 at RDS that the sustainability of the Games was threatened if we had not accepted this change. “If we had left it like that, my fear was that we would risk the future of Olympic sport because it would have been nonsense. Our athletes will arrive in a few days and that’s when we will be able to know if we can trust the Chinese authorities. »

Gauthier is mainly angry with the president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach who has not been able to impose his leadership since his arrival at the head of the movement in 2013 and that he has done very little so far to restore the Olympic rings.

“I don’t think he’s a good leader. It may be at the political level. He had several opportunities to bring the Olympic movement back to the nobility that we have known in the past. I don’t want to say that his predecessors were better or worse, but with what we saw in terms of doping with the Russians in Sochi in 2014, it is clear that the situation has not been resolved. Thomas Bach did not take the lead to really penalize an entire people. We took a lot of half measures. “

Canadian athletes will arrive in China in the coming days. Several of them have tested positive for the virus in recent weeks. According to Gauthier, if all goes well, then we can start talking about sports and expect good games. “I trust the Chinese for the Games which will take place very well in extraordinary venues and stadiums. Once in the Tokyo bubble, we can then focus on the performance of the athletes. »