IOC to reallocate Tokyo Olympics quotas following North Korea's withdrawal

With just less than 50 days to go before the Tokyo Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is looking to redistribute the quotas that were bagged by North Korea. In April, North Korea decided to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, official confirmation from North Korean authorities is yet to come to the IOC. According to reports, an IOC official said on Tuesday that they need to come up with a decision to allocate the slots to the athletes waiting next. It would also ensure clarity about participation in the Games.

IOC director of Olympic Solidarity and National Olympic Committee (NOC) relations James McLeod has said that there have been a lot of ongoing discussions regarding the matter. Approximately 10 Tokyo Olympics berths are likely to be reallocated.

“The problem was that they did not inform us officially. It got to the point where we had to make a decision on the reallocation of the qualified places because we didn’t want to jeopardize those places for other athletes that were waiting for that. We would like 206 National Olympic Committees to take part in the Games,” Macleod said.

North Korea missed Summer Olympics twice previously

The last time North Korea decided to give the Summer Olympics a miss was in the 1988 Seoul Games. They also joined the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics.

The Tokyo Olympics was originally scheduled for 2020 but got postponed for a year due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

Particularly weak against disease outbreaks, North Korea has reportedly imposed stringent measures against COVID-19 and claims to have zero cases in the country. The nation is believed to have almost completely sealed its borders and put stricter travel restrictions domestically.

So far, North Korea has won 54 medals at the Summer Olympics, including 16 gold. The contingent's best performance came in the 1992 Barcelona Games, where it pocketed nine medals (4 gold, 5 bronze).