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NMA receives info on risk assessment for staging event
In this file photo, participants in the Saipan Marathon head out of the course. (Saipan Tribune)
With various sports trying to return to normalcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Northern Marianas Athletics stands with World Athletics in conducting risk assessment first before holding any event.
NMA recently joined an info session among member federations of the Oceania Athletics Association to learn about an online risk assessment and mitigation tool for endurance event organizers formulated by Outbreak Prevention Taskforce, which was formed by World Athletics with the International Institute for Race Medicine.
The tool, according to World Athletics website, focuses on assessing the risk of the event in quantitative and qualitative ways, establishing the community and the event’s preparedness for the risks of COVID-19, and clarifying the steps to take to further mitigate and reduce the risk.
NMA secretary general and OAA president Robin Sapong said they will share the tool to other stakeholders in athletics, including fellow sports federations and government agencies.
“The NMA will work closely with the CNMI COVID-19 Task, Marianas Visitors Authority, Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands, Northern Marianas Sports Association, and Public School System,” Sapong said.
At this time, NMA has no plan yet to hold any events/competitions, but before the COVID-19 pandemic, the association had been involved in the Saipan Marathon and McDonald’s/PSS Schools Track and Field Championships, which both draw hundreds of athletes, volunteers, and spectators. This year, NMA was supposed to host the Micronesian Regional Championships, too, but the event that also features Guam, Palau, Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia athletes, has been suspended indefinitely.
Meanwhile, beside World Athletics, the Outbreak Prevention Taskforce also had representatives from the International Cycling Union, World Triathlon, International Ski Federation, World Rowing, the International Paralympic Committee, and the World Health Organization.
The online risk assessment and mitigation tool is available at https://idom.worldathletics.org/.
