The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) has closed coaching programs and the WAIS High Performance Service Centre and is significantly modifying service delivery to athletes effective as of today.
This follows the AOC announcement on Monday 23 March that they are no longer preparing teams for Tokyo 2020 and Paralympic Australia’s support for this decision.
The decision to shut down operations was made in collaboration with the National Institute Network with all members working to provide a consistent and appropriate response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic impacting our local, Australian and World communities. A copy of the NIN Operational Shutdown Statement can be found here. We thank the office of the Minister for Sport and Recreation, the Hon Mick Murray, VenuesWest and other partners for their support over the past few months which had allowed us to maintain a 2020 Tokyo campaign.
Athlete health and wellbeing is our immediate focus and we are working to ensure our athletes have the right support to assist their transition into the best possible mindset and physical state to manage the broader societal impacts of COVID-19 and to be ready to start the journey to Tokyo 2021.
Many of our athletes based interstate have returned or are in the process of returning home to be with family and we are providing support to them through this period. Athletes will be respecting Government restrictions around self-isolating where required.
WAIS CEO, Steve Lawrence said, “While disappointed for our 2020 Tokyo focussed athletes we appreciate the clarity provided by the AOC decision to cease preparations for the 2020 Games. WAIS staff and athletes will look forward to preparing for future Games and more immediately look to do their part to assist the community manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The WAIS HPSC is now closed to the public. However, our office will remain contactable through our normal telephone and email contact details.
This advice will be updated as required.
