Blog: We are ready to shine

Boccia UK Performance Director Helen Nicholls brings us up to speed on the team’s journey to Tokyo, life inside the Athlete Village and Covid safety.

After a fantastic two days at St Georges Park - where we regrouped, rested and prepared for the journey ahead - we found ourselves at Heathrow on Friday 20 August ready to fly to Tokyo.

We don’t travel light!

 A big shout out is needed to British Airways who swiftly escorted us through the airport - and they didn’t faint at the sight of all our luggage! The flight, whilst a long 11 hours, was made easier by our super-duper business class lie-flat beds.

Shout out to British Airways

Boccia team on their way to Tokyo 2020.

As athletes trying to look after their bodies in advance of performing at the greatest show on earth, we decided this was a necessary luxury. For staff and assistants, it also helped to ease into what we know will be an intense three weeks.

Arrival at Japan’s Hanedo Airport was, to put it mildly, a managed and detailed process of station after station of protocols, all manned by incredibly enthusiastic, happy and lovely volunteers.

Then came the Covid-19 test. The culmination and most critical part of the massive process was to spit into a little test-tube and wait for ninety minutes for a negative test result. Once this was achieved, it really did mean you could ‘pass go’ and board the coaches to the Athlete Village.

We arrived at the ParalympicsGB tower at 8pm on Saturday 21 August. The welcome was amazing and the support in getting our kit and apartments ready was world class. The place looks amazing. The rooms are great. Don’t believe any rubbish you hear about the cardboard beds – I am buying one, they are soooo comfy!

The weary team headed to the food hall for dinner and managed to decide between the million different options of what to eat - noodles, pizza, steak, salad, fish, Thai and everything else besides. It is just awesome and the organisers have done a fantastic job of setting it out in a spacious and well-managed way. Its clean, hygienic and well run.

The next day, we received our official welcome from Chef de Mission Penny Briscoe and ensured our logistics are all in place. The team slept well overnight and we had a light session this morning before a bit of equipment preparation and management.

Overall, the Tokyo organisers and Japanese volunteers have so far done an absolutely outstanding job of putting this show on. The village is outstanding - it looks good, it feels good and it is good! In terms of Covid safety, every single measure you could imagine is being taken to keep everyone safe. You need gloves before you touch anything in the dining room, there are wash stations and hand sanitisers everywhere and they are very well used.

As I write this, I can see the sun beaming over the rainbow bridge on the Tokyo skyline and we are certainly ready to shine on this amazing stage that is the Paralympic Games.

Agitos in Tokyo.