With the Tokyo Olympics set to take place in just a couple of weeks, there is a lot of excitement and anticipation for both the athletes and the teams heading over. In this months issue of VIP Magazine, editor, Bianca Luykx caught up with Jacqui Hurley before she heads over.
Jacqui, who is an athlete as well as a presenter, will be travelling as part of the RTE team to cover the event.
There is an estimated 270 hours of TV coverage set to come from the games, and with the tight Covid restrictions it won’t be easy!
Speaking exclusively with VIP Magazine Jacqui opened up about her excitement before heading over; “I am SO excited! Just being in a stadium after this long – it will be thrilling!”
“I can’t wait! And I love the Olympics, always have. You also get to know the Irish Olympic athletes and so it really means so much, and is sort of a shared journey, when an Irish person wins a medal.”
However, because of the increased precautions due to the Delta variant, there are strict rules that both the press team and the athletes will have to stick to whilst they’re there; “90,000 will be descending on Tokyo and Japan is also struggling with a fourth wave of Covid and has less than 8 per cent of its population vaccinated.”
Continuing, Jacqui said; “The Japanese people do not want it to go ahead. There’s a part of me that feels really bad because we’re imposing on them when they clearly do not want us there.”
“But if you look at the guidelines we really are not going to be mixing with the public. We are in our Olympic bubble; we’re not allowed on public transport, in their shops or restaurants. But it must go against every grain of the Japanese humanity not to welcome tourists.”
“Lots of people even here think the Olympics shouldn’t go ahead. But look at the Euros, yes it’s clear there’s going to be Covid cases, and people will have to pull out, which is very difficult, but we’re all finding a way to move on with life, and this could be the way forward – for now – once of course all precautions are taken.”
We are wishing Jacqui and all the athletes taking part the best of luck, and we can’t wait to watch her coverage on RTE throughout the games!
To read Jacqui’s full interview pick up the latest issue of VIP Magazine, on shelves now.
