Cycling ready to resume - Association awaits MOHW approval of its health protocols

President of the Jamaica Cycling Association (JCA) Wayne Palmer expects the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) to approve protocols for cycling to return locally by the end of this week, this following a submission of coronavirus health and safety protocols to the ministry of sports recently.

Palmer pointed out that cycling is a non-contact sport and was also declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a low risk sport in the current pandemic. But he added that the delay to approval from the ministry of health has seriously hampered their ability to make progress.

"The first thing we want to do is get an approved COVID protocol to allow the return of the sport. We have sent in our document to the ministry of sports and it is now with the ministry of health, so we are waiting on a response from the ministry of health that will officially allow us to start racing again.

"Cycling is not a contact sport and it is identified by the World Health Organisation as a low-risk sport, so we don't anticipate that it will take a very long time. I am hoping that we will get it by the end of this week," he said.

Protocols were submitted

He noted that the protocols were submitted three weeks ago to the ministry of sports, who revised the document before sending it back to the association for adjustment. He said they made the changes and resubmitted the document, which has now been handed over to the ministry of health.

"I am confident we will have it approved and we will have it in short order," he continued.

He added that it is very important that they get the approval in order for local riders to begin preparations for the Pan American Games in March.

"We are now preparing for the Pan American championship, so we need that protocol (approved) to get back to training and racing at the stadium and on the road. On recommendations from the ministry of health, we have advised our athletes that they can train and prepare for the event, as long as they are following the health protocols, and we have had a lot of positives from it," he said.

"So we manage to get our athletes to train even though there is no formal racing but as long as we don't have a protocol approved we cannot advance as much as we would like. Some athletes have fallen off in the fitness level and performance level because athletes have to compete in order to stay sharp. So the lack of competition has been a major hit we have taken but we are hoping to remedy that by the end of this week."