Paralympic Holding Camp - Japan

We have arrived in Japan! 9 athletes, 4 support staff and about 40 pieces of luggage all made the trip safely and we were well looked after by British Airways. It is amazing to finally be here and start our final taper towards racing.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, all delegates from the UK need to complete a mandatory 3 day quarantine before they can move into the village. Thankfully we are still able to train under strict rules and so our friends at Keio University in Yokohama, a nearby province in Japan are hosting us for a land camp. We are mostly swimming, erging and biking and using the time to acclimatise to the very warm temperatures here, as well as the eight hour time zone shift.

We are joined at Keio by Powerlifting, Archery, Equestrian and Judo and it is great to see other sports and really get a feel for the multi-sport element of the Games… especially after being isolated for so long.

The Japanese people have been so welcoming and couldn’t do enough for us. We get waved on and off the bus every day, always helped with a smile and the locals have made good luck charms and origami gifts to wish us luck. We move into the village on the 21st of August and we can first get to the Sea Forest Waterway on the 22nd! We can’t wait.