In a change of policy, nursing mothers who are competing in the Tokyo Olympic Games will be allowed to bring their children to the country. But there will be rules as to where their children will be able to be.
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In a change in regulations, the Olympic organizers will allow nursing mothers to bring their children when necessary. Family members are not permitted to attend the games when they start next month because of COVID-19 protocols, Reuters reported.
But some athletes have said they were being told to choose between their children and competition.
“Given that the Tokyo 2020 Games will take place during a pandemic, overall we must, unfortunately, decline to permit athletes’ family members or other companions to accompany them to the Games,” organizers told Reuters but added, “However, after consideration of the unique situation facing athletes with nursing children, we are pleased to confirm that, when necessary, nursing children will be able to accompany athletes to Japan.”
Canadian basketball player Kim Gaucher said she had to decide between “being a breastfeeding mom or an Olympic athlete,” prior to the regulation change. She has a three-month-old daughter she’s nursing, Reuters reported.
Aliphine Tuliamuk, an American long-distance runner, had said she “cannot imagine” going to Japan without her daughter.
While the children will be allowed, the children must be in approved hotels and not the Olympic Village, as that area is restricted to athletes and officials.
But the new regulations have not said if an additional person will be allowed to go to Japan to help take care of the children while the mothers are either training or competing, The Washington Post reported. Foreign spectators, including athletes’ families, are banned from attending, the Post reported.
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