At an executive board meeting in Osaka, the organizing committee of the 71st National High School Boys Ekiden and 32nd National High School Girls Ekiden, both scheduled for Dec. 20 in Kyoto, agreed to consider a proposal to stage the race without teams passing a tasuki as a measure to counter the spread of the coronavirus. The committee also discussed other preventative measures, working on the assumption that both the prefectural qualification events and Nationals itself will be held as planned.
Passing the tasuki, the sash worn over one shoulder and across the chest, is one of the ekiden's most characteristic features. But many athletes feel that it represents a high risk of becoming a vector for infection due to contamination with droplets from each runner. The organizing committee is exploring alternatives to using a tasuki, taking into account JAAF guidelines for reducing infection risk at events.
The committee aims to establish guidelines as to whether the opening and closing ceremonies will be held and what steps will be taken to reduce crowding at high-density places like the tasuki exchange zones by October, the planned opening of the prefectural qualifying round. In an effort to reduce the strain put upon medical services during the coronavirus crisis, the committee also made the decision to eliminate mandatory blood testing for all athletes, a measure introduced last year to combat the widespread issue of iron injection abuse in long distance running.
source article:
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/38366ad687913c54cf8fe030252196e870bc26d7
translated by Brett Larner
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